Megaman ZX Omega
by Celestial Moonlight Blade
Summary: It's been a year since the oroboris incident. A new foe is rising. A young girl, Maria, chosen by fate to weild Model O, stands to fight him. Can she control her biometal's terrifing power? First story, please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

_**Megaman ZX: Omega**_

**Disclaimer: I own nothing (except Maria and Jonathan)**

Chapter 1: The beginning

Maria Light meandered home from school, pushing her silver hair out of her blue eyes. While heading out of the school yard, other kids would look at her and murmur about how nice she was. Maria was a quiet, soft-spoken girl who hated seeing people get hurt. She listens to her mother, studies (fairly) hard in school, get's (pretty) good grades, and if there's anything she truly despises in this world (besides homework, but everyone hates that so it doesn't really count) it's hurting others for your own gain. She lives with her mother and her brother. (Jonathan) In a sense, she's just a normal girl…but define 'normal' after what happens to her every night…

Maria woke up with a start, breathing hard. "God, it happened again…" The recurring dream she was having made her scared to go to sleep. In her dreams, she saw a crimson reploid chained to a post, his blood red eyes locked with hers. He would whisper "Find me, Maria. Tear off the chains that bind me. Then you will have my power…and you'll be needing it." Several times, her mother told her she was just dreaming, and there was no point in getting herself all worked up. But when she went to history class at her high school, there was much talk about a crimson destroyer called Omega, who loved to wreak havoc and destruction. He was the one responsible for the mass casualties in the worst war in history, the Elf Wars. Worst yet, his description matched that of the reploid in her dreams. After she heard about THAT, Maria was too scared to even mention her dream to anyone, afraid of what they would think when they found out that Omega was offering her his power, afraid of what this might mean.

Maria sat up in bed. The alarm bell was ringing and her mother frantically shaking her. "Maria! Stand up, we need to get out of here! It's a maverick attack!" "Where's Jonathan?" Maria asked, on her feet in an instant. "His teacher put him inside a shelter. We need to get out of here now!" They ran outside. Heliopolis had changed. The world seemed to be on fire, the sky had gone red, and mavericks were everywhere, shooting randomly at fleeing civilians. Airships hovered around, blowing apart office buildings. Tanks rolled through the streets, crushing people below them and shooting at others. The screams of terror and fear filled Maria's ears. Her heart pounded, filled with fear and confusion. _What's happening to my home? _

Maria tripped over a piece of fallen concrete and fell. A group of mavericks promptly cornered her. "Maria, run." Her mother was standing in front of her, arms outstretched. "Hand over the girl, and you can live." A maverick growled. "Not my daughter, you bitch. You can take me but leave her alone!" "So quick to throw your life away." A gunshot filled the air, and Maria's mother crumpled lifelessly to the ground. Maria stared, her eyes filling with tears, while her heart suddenly went cold, and the world fell silent. She could feel…Rage. Intense hatred. Fury. Hot from head to toe, with no fear. All the hate she had felt in her life roared through her, obscuring everything else. Maria was on her feet and running before her mind registered what she was going to do next. She had a destination, unconsciously chosen. In the centre of town sat a biometal. A chain was wrapped around it. Her dream. "Omega!" Maria shouted, locking her fingers around the chain. Summoning all her strength, she pulled away. The chain flashed purple and snapped. Light erupted from Model O. Omega's cold laughter ripped through her mind. "Good choice, girl!" Maria's voice broke through the air, a single scream no maverick or citizen would forget, ever: **"M-E-G-A… MERGE!"**

Maria hadn't imagined Megamerging would hurt. But it did. A lot. It was crazy. Power flooded Maria's body, violent and raw. It was like being struck by 1,1991 000 000 lightning bolts…all at the same time. Flashes of Omega's past appeared in her mind, all the images of his battles, and his joy of fighting, smashing his enemies into bloody pulp so they would never and could never get up again. It all flowed into Maria, until she thought her body would not be able to contain the blaze of energy tearing at her limbs, searing her heart, causing her blood to roar through her veins at warp speed. Finally, the insane power ebbed enough for Maria to be able to see clearly, and to think clearly...to some extent. She was covered in sleek, dark red armour, red as blood. White aura surrounded her. There were bracelet-like shackles around her wrists, ankles and neck. A long, v-bladed purple saber was in her left hand, pulsing eerily. A small white buster was clamped firmly in her other hand. "Biolink establish. MEGA systems, online." Model O's voice was calm and cold. "Welcome to my world, Maria."

Maria's eyes narrowed with hatred, sizing up the army that confronted her. She attacked one of the closer mavericks, tentatively at first use of her saber. The maverick's metal flesh was slashed open like someone would cut an onion with a kitchen knife. _So easy. _Then came her buster. A giant hole burned into a nearby airship. Then, her sanity was washed away in an instant, seeing a world of blood. _KILL! KILL THEM ALL!_ Maria succumbed to her emotion and let her power fly. Within moments, she was violently slaughtering every maverick she found, wildly shooting and slashing without target. To a girl, the front lines fell backwards as if being sheet bombed by an unseen force. Carving a swath of death through the middle, with her bare hands Maria ripped open another tank that had been heading for the shelters before spinning around and attacking more of the Mutos troupes. Oil flowed like a river over her body, into her eyes, until she was seeing more red than her armour and there was no distinction between it and the shade of crimson her eyes had become. Hissing like an animal, Maria hurtled forward, slashing a bloody path through the maverick's ranks unchecked-Mutos, maverick and mechadoloids alike were not spared her wrath. She felt no pain, no fear-only the driving will to seek and destroy.

_DESTROY… CRUSH…KILL…ANNIHLATE…_ Seeming to realize that they had bitten off FAR more than they could chew, mavericks started to retreat. Even then, Maria followed relentlessly, somersaulting over them and blocking the only escape route. Running forward again, she killed whoever couldn't keep up while straining every limit of her slamming heart in order to keep fighting. "Bring it on, rodents!" Her voice was slurred with that of a boy; her biometal. "You're about to be exterminated!" Green light flashed on the palms of both her hands, tearing a hole in cyberspace; in order to select a bigger weapon. "Not this one…not this one either…" An eerie smile appeared on her face. "Perfect." Summoning MuraMasa - a massive, sixty-feet long, v-bladed weapon with a handle nearly bigger than her - Maria whipped a devastating shockwave through the second army; which was instantly decimated. There were wounds in her body, but they were insignificant.

_FIGHT! KILL! DESTROY!_ Maria had one objective-to kill every maverick on Heliopolis, and she wasn't about to let a few scars slow her down. Besides, they sealed up again after a few seconds. Her weapons cut through opponent after opponent, leaving waves of carnage in her wake. Her O-Saber, O buster, and a whole assortment of weapons from cyberspace including MuraMasa were used, while all along, the ground itself grew red with oil while the scale of maverick slaughter rose and rose. Maria howled in rage and hatred as she tore her way towards the heart of the army, each blow merciless. Tanks that came at her simply had a huge hole blown through the cockpit-and then were cut straight in half while their gunman were killed. Airships got their rudders cut right off, and as they fell, the light of the titanic MuraMasa was the last thing their pilots ever saw. Foot troops got the worst of it, facing her in all her fury and might head on. The people who had been running around could now only stand and stare as a girl, god alone knew how young and inexperienced, tore apart armies of mavericks with little more than the weapons in her hands and her own two feet.

"A few minutes ago, we were up to our necks in mavericks…along with six boss-class Mutos reploids…that was behind our request for backup…" The officer's voice was tightly under control, as if he was trying to conceal terror. "…but, now…" he watched Maria slaughter yet another platoon effortlessly; as if she was slicing bread in a kitchen. "…that won't be necessary."

Spinning around, jumping, twisting…there was no room for rational thought -only for pure instinct. Killing another Mutos reploid, Maria dropped to her knees and kicked a tank backwards. It flew into a pile of rubble on impact, its roof smashed in - and it was not going to be operational for some time. Maria scaled the walls of Heliopolis's devastated mall, and gasped the side of another airship. The maverick pilot looked up to see his face level with a buster primed with a charge attack, and knew that there would be no time to scream. The ship exploded, and Maria landed like a cat before steadying herself for another go. She ran after the retreating army, relentlessly killing whoever straggled behind and using long-range attacks to get those ahead of the others. So far, MuraMasa was her favorite…in her present state of mind. She had only one thought: _This… is… the… power…of…Megaman… Model… O…!_

There came a time when no mavericks came forth to confront her. Maria spun in circles, not believing she had killed off them all. _Where are you? Come out and fight! _She saw someone coming towards her. Her grip on her saber shifted and she spun around. But it turned out of be Jonathan. "Sis?" The oil cleared from Maria's eyes, which were blue once more as her mind slowly began to process what had happened. "Omega spirit, deactivate." Model O's voice could clearly be heard through the dead silence. Maria was surrounded by enough metal carnage to fill the Grand Canyon, and she was up to her ankles in oil-the lifeblood of uncountable mavericks. The number was staggering, somewhere in the billions. All dead-in under thirty minuets. _All of this blood…came from the mavericks…?_ "Jonathan, keep your distance! The way I am now…I don't know who I might attack!" "But sis…it's over. The mavericks are all dead. There's no one else to fight." Jonathan held Maria's blood-soaked hands, looking faintly desperate, searching her eyes for any sign of the tender and caring sister he knew and loved. "Please, turn back to normal…there's no other maverick left alive." Maria felt her blood flow slow down. "Mom…?" She de-megamerged and crumpled to the ground. She saw only black as she passed out.

Somewhere in the abandoned factories, a man slammed his fist down. "YOU…IMCOMPETENT….MORONS!" A computer terminal was smashed against the walls. "I SEND FIVE GOD-DAMN **ARMIES **TO RETRIVE THE BIOMETAL, AND STILL THEY FAIL ME!" He could see it all. Attacking the citizens, winning hand over foot - when all at once the unstoppable form of an enraged goddess of destruction erupted from the centre of town, slaughtering mavericks at an insane rate - sixty per second; maybe more. She had no particular fighting style, no fancy techniques, just a blind, bloody free-for-all…and even the strongest armada's were annihilated as if they had been sheet bombed. The man signaled to one of his subordinates. His voice was still trembling with rage as he spoke. "Bring…me…that… girl! **BRING ME MARIA LIGHT!"**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

Chapter 2

Ashe paced in front of the hospital. She could still recall her numb shock that Heliopolis was attacked and 90% of its population were mass murdered. But the real news that had frightened her was the fact that all the mavericks were dead. Slaughtered in the billions…by a thirteen-year-old girl. Maria Light, to be accurate. She was biometal Model O's chosen one, and apparently she had triggered some kind of program in her biometal that caused it's spirit to take over, giving her inhuman - and terrifying - power that knew no bounds. The whole incident left Ashe worrying about Maria's mental health. If her mind was unstable, there would be hell involved. Ashe had talked to Maria's brother Jonathan for details.

"I don't know!" Jonathan was protesting for the fourth time. "All I do know is that sis grabbed the biometal from its pedestal from the centre of town and she Megamerged! She had been having weird nightmares about Omega beforehand, but I don't see how it could have been connected; I don't know anything about biometals! You see, mom died protecting Maria, and then she just took off and found model O. When she transformed, she went berserk and killed all the mavericks." He paused for a moment, and then went on in a quieter tone; "It was scary…it was like she had always had that power, knowing exactly how to use it, knowing every weak spot to strike, every pressure point, the weaknesses of the airships and tanks…she just KNEW. She hasn't had military training, I swear! If she had, I'd know! She knew, on her own power!" His fear convinced Ashe.

"Right. Thanks for telling me what you saw anyway."

"Will anything happen to sis?" Jonathan asked timidly.

Ashe gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry; Maria will be fine. Better than fine!"

**/Silverwing hospital**

Her words had been full of confidence, but underneath Ashe was concerned at multiple levels - all of them high ones, too. "What do you think, Model A?"

"She must have tapped into some of Model O's memories when she megamerged. But…I don't know why he would remember things about his past while I and the other biometals didn't. But that kind of power…it could only come from someone who fought whole armies before hand. There's no way Maria could have done that without guidance from Omega's spirit."

Ashe turned these thoughts over in her head as she walked up to ward 008 and stepped inside. Maria lay on her bed, still asleep, a relaxed expression on her face. The Greek symbol of the end had been burned into her forehead by Model O- which was loosely held in Maria's left hand. It was hard to believe that this was the same girl who had wielded the god-like powers that completely destroyed five whole armies - and could probably do much more than that.

Ashe looked up at the attending nurse. "How is she?"

"Her condition has stabilized; it's just a fainting spell. She spent a lot of energy that day. I'm sure it's nothing too serious. She'll regain consciousness soon."

Ashe nodded, and carefully slid the biometal out from under Maria's hand. "If she wakes up before I give this back, tell her we're analyzing it," Ashe said, then she left the room and headed for Temporal Tower lab.

"Where are you taking me?" Model O's voice was quiet and cold.

"To a lab. It's just to take a look at your programming," Ashe replied without looking at it.

If Model O was still a reploid, he'd be frowning. "Why would you need to do that?"

"For the safety of your biomatch," Ashe replied firmly. Model O muttered something but didn't argue anymore. The biometal's data was scanned and it's programs were investigated. After the researchers had a good look at Model O, who was in a test tube, one of them spoke.

"There is still a lot about this…thing…that we don't understand yet. Its system seems to be written in some strange code, which is just a strange mass of symbols. Like an ancheint language. The biometal is so tightly closed against unwanted interferance...it seeks to confuse us. We've got nothing on what caused Model O to take over Maria during the battle. On the other hand, we learned something about the shackles about Model O's neck, wrists and ankles. Apparently they bind the biometal's elemental powers and stops them from being used. You need a certain cyber elf to separately unlock Shadow, Fire, Ice, Earth and Lightning."

"Right. Thanks." As Ashe left, she couldn't help but wonder: _what other deadly surprises might this biometal have in store for us?_

**/Back at the hospital**

Maria blinked several times and opened her eyes. She was in a hospital. She could tell. the room was completely white. On the wall in front of her, there was a cabinet filled with small containers holding pills. On her left, there was a desk with a shock rod on it-the kind of thing that was put to use when someone's heart suddenly stopped working. On her right, there was a tube of insulin sitting on the chair the nurse had been using. it was shock treatment. in the cabinet above her, she could see a machine that was used to work surgery on an injured patient Luckily, it looked like it hadn't been used. _How long was I out? When did I get here? What happened...?_ Abruptly it dawned on Maria that she wasn't holding Model O. Panic was instant. _Where did it-? _Then, a sixteen-year-old girl walked into the room. Maria immediately recognized her from the international news. It was Ashe, Mega man Model A. She was one of the two Mega men who had destroyed the Oraboris. A hero. That was probably the reason Maria just stared like a moonstruck rabbit when the living legend walked towards her.

"Here." Ashe handed Maria model O. "I had brought it to a lab for analysis. You can have it back now."

If Maria had been surprised before, now she was just dumbfounded. "Why did you come to see me, an ordinary kid? I'm sure I'm just one of the people hurt during the attack on Heliopolis. No offence intended, but don't you have more important things to do?"

"Maybe you don't know, but finding out a girl no older than me just slaughtered several army's worth of mavericks by herself is the kind of thing Legion finds out pretty quickly."

Maria pretended to study the lines on Model O, wincing. Not in her wildest dreams would she have guessed that her violent revenge against the mavericks had been reported so soon, much less to an international heroine. She just mumbled "I think the maverick were looking for me, cuz they said to mommy 'give us the girl and you can live.' They were talking about me."

Ashe looked over her shoulder and out the window. "But it can't mean that, can it…?" She muttered.

Now Maria was worried. "What do you mean?" "It's nothing." Ashe replied quickly. "How are you feeling?"

"I don't feel like anything happened to me." Maria replied quietly. Then, she added "Do I have an exit pass?"

At this, Ashe chuckled. "Of course. Come, I'm under orders to bring you to Legion."

Maria's eyes widened. "Am I in trouble?"

"No. It'll be clear when we get there."

**/Legion bus terminal**

Maria stared in astonishment at the size of Temporal Tower. "It's huge!" It looked as if it had been made from silver, while she knew well it was just the paint. The structure itself was probably made from iron or steel. Near the top, she could see an obervation tower she was pretty sure could see to the ends of the earth.

Ashe smiled - a good sign. "I know. It caught me off guard when I first got here, too." Leading her guest through the main hallway, Ashe pressed the up button on the elevator. When they were inside, heading for the top floor, Maria looked back down at Model O. She didn't know why, but it seemed as if it was staring at her. Then again, her eyes may be playing tricks on her…Maria's mind played back to that fateful day on Heliopolis. _It wasn't just Omega's spirit that guided my hands that day… _She could still see the dying form of her mother in front of her. _It was hate. Pure fury, hating the mavericks responsible. That was there, too…that also put out the power bearing me forward relentlessly…not stopping until they were all dead…and for all I know, that might happen again._

**/…three elevators later**

"Wow, wow, WOW!" Maria stood gawking in the upper elevator. "LOOK! EVERYTHING IS SO TINY! THIS IS AWESEOME!"

Ashe tried hard not to laugh out loud, watching Maria rant on and on about the view. _Anyone would think she's still 9..._ When the elevator came to a stop, Maria exploded into the building.

"COOL! CHECK IT OUT! Everything is SO…expensive." _Tapastries, fancy equipment, felt rugs...these guys sure like to show off..._ She spun in circles, trying to take in everything at once. The sound of laughter came from behind her.

"I'd never have picked you as the excitable type, Maria." Maria turned around. A tall man with red hair was appeared from the next room.

Ashe dipped her head. "Master Thomas." Maria quickly lowered her head too. Her mind was spinning. _I can't believe I got to meet one of the Sage Trinity…Jonathan will be SO jealous when I tell him about it. _"Hi…?"

"No need for formal introductions. We're a bit short on time as it is. Since you are its biomatch, I'll tell you everything about Model O." Maria took out the biometal. "An excavation crew in area N stumbled across this about month ago. They brought it here. After a while we realized that there was something odd about this particular biometal. First off, the spirit it is based on wasn't exactly what I'd call a dependable hero."

"Omega?"

"Right. Somehow, he managed to contact you when you were asleep. When the dreams you were having came to our attention, the Council figured that meant you and the biometal were linked and sent it to Heliopolis. Unfortunately, where there's a biometal capable of such destructive power, there is a man who wants that power above everything else. An unknown party sent five armies worth of mavericks to take the Model O out of our hands."

Maria blinked, and was about to mumble 'yeah' when something occurred to her. "What…what happened to everyone else in Heliopolis?"

Ashe supplied the answer. "Legion sent several airships containing relief supplies to Heliopolis when you were still unconscious."

"While we're on that topic, I might bring to your attention what happened after you megamerged."

Maria flinched. "You mean when Model O possessed me?"

"What happened really stressed 'possessed'. What actually happened was that a program called the Omega Spirit was triggered."

"Omega…spirit?"

"Yes. That program is present in all biometals. It's designed to empower you with all the knowledge and skills of whoever your biometal is based on, focusing all their power into your body. The Omega spirit is a biometal's most powerful-and final-form."

Maria's eyes widened. "That's what happened to me?"

"Yes. Until you reach a certain level in your training, the Omega Spirit can only be called upon under dire circumstances. Keep that in mind." Master Thomas's eyes narrowed. "Maria."

The girl straightened up, startled by his sudden intensity. "The one who sent the mavericks to Heliopolis has proven that he will stop at nothing to claim Model O. Now that you are its biomatch, you-and the people around you-are all in a great deal of REAL danger. I'm giving you a choice-you can either go home, or remain with Ashe and try to stop this madman before more people get killed. Mind you - both choices will lead to dangerous situations more than once."

Maria started to shiver. _I do NOT like this. Why do these things only happen to me…? Well…if I go home, I can hang around Jonathan and play games and stuff and be a normal schoolgirl…but that guy might send more mavericks to attack Heliopolis and I might not be able to stop them. Not to mention Jonathan and my remaining family and friends might get killed! On the other hand, if I stay, I can try to stop him. I might get killed both ways, but if I stay with Ashe, I won't put Jonathan and everyone else in danger again. _"I will…stay here." Maria let out her breath and realized she had been holding it.

"I see." Master Thomas clicked something, and a screen popped up. "I have a mission for you two. A group of Suluriods are stealing from the weapon silo and getting away through the sewers. I want you two to go down there and follow them."

"Roger."

**/City Sewers**

"…ugh, this place is like a maze. That stinks." Maria complained as she and Ashe walked through the confusing pathways next to dirty water and rats. The water itself was green with waste. the walls dripped with it, cold grey. The stench was practicaly overwhelming. "I hate being in sewers. How can those guys stand it?"

"Don't look at me. I wouldn't know." The two girls walked further in when the water suddenly fell downwards. A short distance below, they saw what looked like a network of underground tunnels. "It's an underground walkway. Why didn't we think of that before?" Ashe murmured. "We knew they were getting around unnoticed…"

"No point in musing about that now. We need to follow those tunnels and see where they lead." Maria slid down the wall and marched confidently forward. The river churned forward and twisted away into one of the cave passages. Ashe kept glancing over her shoulder. "You know, I'm not sure if this is safe…" Maria stopped walking.

"Do you hear that?" Ashe froze.

"Hear what?"

"It's not rain outside that we're hearing…" Maria said slowly. "It's the river. Ashe, did we leave the lid off the sewer drain?" A simple glance from her friend informed her that they had.

"Oh shit." Model O hissed. The river roared and overflowed.

A tidal wave of water slammed into Maria and both she and Ashe were flung downstream. The wave had hit Maria in the face and for a moment she couldn't think straight, or even remember where she was or what she was doing. The water seeping into her lungs and filling her mouth brought her back to reality. She kicked upwards, desperate to keep her head above water. "Ashe?" She coughed, looking around.

"Maria! De-Megamerge! It'll lighten your load!" Ashe's voice came from the other side of the tunnel. Maria reverted back to her normal form and instantly felt a wave of panic. She didn't know how to swim! The water relentlessly pushed her forward. With a choked wail, Maria churned the water with her hands and feet. _If the water hits the roof of the tunnel, I won't_ _be able to get air…_Suddenly, Maria was flung clear over a twenty-foot waterfall. _Falling, falling, falling…_She hit the iron surface of the water with a splash.

The violent flooding subsided, and Maria was washed ashore. Weakly, she sat up and immediately vomited up several mouthfuls of water, and slumped down again, exhausted. A few moments later, she sat up and looked around. She couldn't see Ashe. "Ashe…? Ashe?" For a few agonizingly long moments, there was no reply. Then, a hesitant voice called out from a ways away.

"Maria? Where are you?"

"Over here…!"

A moment later Ashe splashed onto the tunnel floor next to Maria. "oh…my… f*****…god…I am never leaving the lid off a sewer drain again." Ashe panted, spitting out water.

"Maria? What the hell just happened? All I could see was water! I couldn't tell if you were alright or drowning! It sure would have helped to have the Ice form for that." Model O barged into the conversation.

"Forget the Ice form, I should have taken swimming lessons before this." Maria wheezed.

"Ashe! Maria! Are you alright?" Thomas's voice broke out over the comm. link.

"Oh we're fine, just half drown!" Maria replied stiffly, exhaustion making her impatient. "Sure we're just having an awesome time. Now why the heck are we down here anyway? What's the objective, considering we're half dead?"

"Well, before all this happened, we had wanted you to secure the area. But now that we know the place is liable to flooding with this much rain, we just hope you can take beating the Suluriod in charge. Good luck."

Maria staggered to her feet and looked over her shoulder at the waterfall. "You mean that might happen again…?" Ashe stood up and put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder.

"I hope not." They Megamerged and continued onward.

"Do you really think we can beat a Suluriod in this state?" Ashe murmured.

"I'm sure you'll pull through." Model A said, trying to sound confident, but it was as plain as a gunshot in the night that the biometal was worried for both of them.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Model A." Model O said dryly.

"Not now, Model O. Please not now…" Maria sighed heavily. They hadn't gone far before sentient machines made their move. "Mavericks." Maria pulled out her saber. A few moments later they met the Suluriod. It was a stingray with talons and a humanoid body.

"Maria, how nice to see you." She hissed. "I was wondering when you'd show up."

"So you do know me." Maria replied, her voice cool. "Now I know who to thank for my mother's death."

"Hahah, I heard you were a feisty one. To think that this little girl is the biomatch of the god of destruction."

"Put a sock in it, fish girl, we're not going to listen to your high-and-mighty ranting about how this world and its people are imperfect! I'm here to rip you open!" Model O hissed.

"You haven't changed. I am Stingray White, level 3 Suluriod! Fight me, and let's see if you can match your reputation, Omega!"


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 3

Maria dove to the right, narrowly avoiding a sheet of ice aimed at her. _Watch the spikes. _Huh? Maria looked over her shoulder. A pit of sharpened spikes lay inside it. "Damn!" She cursed. _Wait. How'd I know they were there? _After a few minuets, Maria was acutely aware of the fact that sometimes she would hurtle herself to the right without knowing why, or when she was backed into a corner in a few unconscious moves and she was out of it. It was almost as if she had a sixth sense that worked without her telling it too. Like, for instance, when Stingray White was pressing her towards the spike pit, she somersaulted off the ice sheet and placed a fresh scar across the Suluriod's face. Then, she'd land on all fours and get up. By the time Stingray White retaliated, she was ready to block or dodge whatever attack she used.

"Slow down!" the suluriod spat, whirling around in an atempt to lock on to her opponent. If Maria had heard her, she gave no sign of it, just contiuing to do weird manovers that kept her out of harm's way.

_Why on earth is my body moving without me knowing why?! _Maria wondered, half astonished, half freaked out. _Is this a function of Model O?! _

Well, whatever it was, it was giving her a considerable advantage. For instance, she wouldn't have guessed on her own that she could break Stingray White's attacks with a blow to the iceicle's centre. Nor would she have known that there was a weak spot in the stingray's body located on its back, just below the headfin. Still-this would take some getting used to. Okay, a LOT of getting used to. _I feel like I've done this before... as if I've fought this battle many times over... ... ...take a breath. Calm yourself._ A strange voice whisled through Maria's mind._ Take a deep breath, let it out slowly, and then strike.  
_

"Hey! Fish Breath!"

Stingray White spun around. Ashe was standing behind her, cloaked in a weird blue aura.

"Ashe?" Maria hadn't even noticed at all that her compaion hadn't launched any attacks at all.

"MARIA, GET DOWN! GIGA…CRUSH!"

Maria threw herself to the floor just in time to avoid a devastating hail of bullets. Stingray White shrieked in pain and covered her face with her talons as explosions rocked the battlefield. It tore open eariler wounds and took off the armour guarding her neck. Maria seized her chance and switched her grip on her saber and jumped to her feet. With one fluid movement, she cut off Stingray White's head.

///

Maria slowed to a stop, breathing hard. A blue cyber elf appeared from Stingray White's decapitated body, which blew up a few seconds later. Maria jumped to aviod it. "Thank you! I am Bethany, the ice cyber elf. I'm impressed that a newbie level two and a level one Megaman would be able to beat a level 3 Suluriod! You need my power to take off the shackle that binds the element ice."

"Thanks, but I don't understand what you mean by level two and level one."

"Oh, you don't know? A level one Megaman is the power output you normally get when you first Megamerge. It has plenty of power limits and far from the height of your strength. It's unusual for a girl who just Megamerged to be at level 2 straight away. It unleashes little more than level 1, but it still has plenty of power. So Ashe, now you are at level 2! The number of enemies you can attack with the homing shot became 10. And your giga crush can be readied in a shorter period of time!"

Ashe's eyes widened. "Really?"

"How many levels are there?! What kind of power can we get?! I MUST KNOW!" Maria was about to launch a second barrage of questions when Bethany cut her off.

"You need to reach the limit of your power in the level you are currently at."

"Right!"

Ashe nodded at the Ice shackle, which was around Maria's right hand. "Well? Try out Model O's Ice form!"

"Alright. **Crystal Ice, transform!**"Maria nodded to Bethany, and the cyber elf slipped into the bind. Immediately, it glowed blue and fell off. There was a burst of light, and when it dimmed, Maria's armour had turned blue and white, she had a water jet on her back, and the fins on either side of her helmet had gotten thinner and jutted straight up. Maria charged her blade for a moment, and then whipped it to one side. A gleaming shock wave of ice flew forward, dislodging the package that Stingray White had been delivering.

Maria and Ashe hurried over. "I wonder what she and her underground convoy were transporting." Maria murmured. Opening the package, however, they found a single red and white biometal inside.

Ashe went bug-eyed when she saw it. "Model Z?!?! What's it doing here?! Hey, can you hear me?!"

The biometal's eyes flickered twice and then lit up.

"Is that you, Ashe? Where have they taken me? And who's this?"

"You were being brought through the sewers to go to that secret hideout of those Suluriod creeps." Maria informed him. "My name is Maria. I am another Megaman, Model O's chosen one."

"Is that so?" "What happened to your biomatch?"

"He belongs to someone I met while I was fighting Model W." Ashe said, taking Model Z into her hands. "His name is Vent. He could double-Megamerge. The other biometal he has is Model X."

Maria's eyes were like saucers. _Another megaman!_ "How'd they GET it? I mean, I'm willing to bet they didn't rent it."

"Don't ask me-because I haven't the faintest idea what happened while I was taking out Albert. But…all in all, I think we should return Model Z to him. As embarrassing as it is to admit, I owe that guy my life three times over."

Maria's expression switched from shock to amazement. _Ashe needed saving? ...I gotta meet this guy!_ "Well, what're we waiting for?! Let's get going!! Mission-complete!" She and Ashe warped out.

A shadow crawled across the floor to the dead suluriod. "Stringray...you are a disgrace to the father of shadows...I will now take your power..." There was a flash of light, and then the shadow was gone.

///Back at Legion

Maria paced back and forth in the lounge, glancing at the clock every few seconds. THe lounge had giant windows next to the landing port, and was filled with rows and rows of chairs, where people who came from oversees waited for their planes to prepare for take off. "What's taking him so long?" Maria wasn't exactly sure why she was so excited -- she just was. _I wonder what he's like…_

"Vent may be a commander, but he's still just seventeen. I bet he had a whole workload when the Wise Men called him over." Ashe pointed out.

"Relax, Maria. You're going to wear yourself out pacing like that." Model O told her.

"That's kind of the point, O." Maria muttered. "Like I've got anything else-"

"The Guardian Base is here!"

"-to do." Maria finished meekly when she saw the huge airship dock in Temporal Tower's airport.

"Now will you sit down?" Model A asked.

"Yes." Maria sat on the nearest chair and waited. Exactly forty seconds later, a boy appeared in the elevator doors. Maria's eyes widened…and soon she started to blush. _O…whoa…so this is…_

Vent's jade eyes widened in surprise. "Ashe!" He ran over. "I didn't expect to see you again so soon!"

"What? Did you think I forgot about you that quickly?" Ashe teased.

"Of course not!" Vent retorted, but Maria caught a gleam of amusement in his eyes. "But why did you bring me here? It doesn't look like a high school reunion party."

"Did you think that's what it was?" Ashe just shook her head, smiling. "No -- there's someone I want you to meet."

With that, Ashe nodded at Maria. "Come here." Shyly, Maria slid over until she was standing next to Ashe. She couldn't quite make eye contact with Vent for fear of staring at him like a moonstruck squirrel. _He's soooooo cute…_ "This is Maria. She also happens to be one of us."

Vent's eyes widened. "One of us? You mean she's another MEGAMAN!"

"Did you think we were the only ones?"

"Of course not! I just...well, wasn't expecting it."

"She's biomatched to model O. To get to the point, there's something we want to give you." Maria timidly pushed Model Z into Vent's hands, closing his fingers around it. When Vent got a good look at it, he received his third shock in a space of two minuets.

"T…this is…"

"Yeah. You're welcome." Ashe said confidently. Maria just nodded, turning pink in the face. _Why am I acting like this?! I bet that if I gave him a direct look, I could never look away again! What the heck is wrong with me?! _

"I don't know how to thank you!" Vent burst out.

"Don't worry about it. That's what friends are for! Right, Maria?"

Maria jumped a bit. "Y-Yeah. Right, sorry…" _Ugh, I look like an idiot! Why must I do this to myself?! So much for my image! _

"So, how are things going for you?" Ashe asked, bringing Maria back to reality. Vent's light-hearted expression faded and suddenly he more serious.

"After the Heliopolis incident, everyone's been pretty tense. But, I haven't seen any increase in maverick activity. And that just worries me more." Vent replied grimly. "It's like they're waiting for the command to move out and attack when we aren't expecting it."

"They definitely know how to keep people in suspense." A train whistle went off. Ashe heaved an irritated sigh. "Oh, geez. That's my ride. See you later, Vent."

"See ya."

Ashe nodded, and Maria only managed a hasty goodbye as she was dragged down to the train station by her hands.

"Ow! Ashe, would you please be a bit more gentle…?!"

///At hunter's camp:

"Well, here we are!" Maria followed Ashe out of the car and into hunter's camp. It looked quite decent, and being surrounded by the rural area just made it look nicer. The grass, the flowers, and river, and the distant crashing of a waterfall seemed to clear the noise in Maria's mind. A great peace stole over her. "Wow…who would have thought that living near nature like this would feel so relaxing. I haven't been here two minuets and already I feel calmer..."

"Yeah. They say that the country is the best place to go for a spiritual retreat. And their right. I'll let you in on something-whenever I feel kina emo because of the workload or new raids, I just sit by the river, and after a while I feel better."

"Cool! I should have done that before I had that darned math test!"

Ashe lead her around camp. The hunters there didn't seam a whole lot diffrenent from the people Maria had lived among in Heliopolis. You know, the adults are grumpy, the kids are running around doing things they aren't supposed to, the navagators were arguing with newcomers...somehow, Maira felt more at home knowing that these people weren't too diffrenet than the people she knew at home. After Ashe insisted that Maria became a hunter, she got her licence and followed her to the two transporters that lead to the training arenas.

"Anyway, if we're going to train, this is the best place. Go on in." Ashe nodded to one of the pods.

Maria stepped towards it nervously. "Where'll we be taken?"

"To where all the minor mavericks are locked up. THe place is called the Rose Canyon-you'll find out why soon enough. They're used for training rookie hunters, but I'm sure that they're enough to give you some new skills. and help you control your biometal."

"Are you certain this is a good idea?!" Maria's voice rose as the transfer began.

"You'll be fine!"

///...tell me if I do to many cliffhangers. Enjoy, and the next chapter is coming along veeeeeeery slowly!


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I still own nothing**

Chapter 4

**/In training zone:**

Maria landed awkwardly. Rough terrain stretched out for what seemed like forever before reaching a gigantic rim. There was some shrubbery, a few dead trees here and there, plenty of lichen clinging to the sides of the cliff, and to many ups and downs and rifts carved into the walls of the valley by years of rocks breaking off of the rim. _A canyon…? Great. _The mavericks began to gather. The first fight was rather easy…although it took Maria some time to recover from the whole idea of being out here, alone, with a lot of mavericks…and she was winning easily. You know, without help. "Okay, first area…" Maria stiffened, and abruptly stopped talking. Not knowing why, she grabbed a chunk of granite and flung it into the darkness. The telltale screech of a bat mechadoloid sounded. _Wait. Bat mechadoloid? _"O, how did I…?"

"Radar." Her biometal replied. It sounded different, almost older... Maria smarted, recognizing Omega's chilling voice. The last time she had heard it, it was during the battle on Heliopolis - when the Omega Spirit had been triggered and she had fought like a goddess of death, crushing five armies as if they were made of plastic and had been launching waterballons at her._ What does he want now?_

"Radar?" She asked tentatively.

"That's right. Whoever built me wanted me to be 120% efficient, leaving no enemies at all, so they gave me this annoying radar that's now a sixth sense. So tell me-are there any more mavericks here?"

Maria took a deep breath and closed her eyes, reaching out to this strange new sense. It was as if a part of her would leave her body, searching for the presence of other mavericks. She found them, all far away…on the norht-west side of the canyon. "More." She replied at last. "But they're all halfway up the canyon walls more at an angle. And what about me knowing what a maverick in the shadows was?"

"Infer-red vision. There's that, too." Model O replied. "Whether it's dark or light, you'll be able to see the opponent."

Maria stiffened again, and somersaulted backwards, dodgeing a plasma blast and falling off a cliff side. Miraculously, she flipped in midair and landed on all fours. Straightening up, Maria stared at her hands. "How about that?"

"Modified genetics too?" Model O groaned. "Joy! Obviously, some of my reploid self made its way into your body when I establish our biolink…! Anyway, that was, again, part of the whole 'efficiency' thing. They modified my DNA so I wouldn't crash to the ground if I had to make a split-second decision jump or fell off a high place or any other stuff like that. Kind of like being part cat. They also sharpened my instincts to ridiculously high levels so I wouldn't stand around wondering what to do if I was in a tight spot, like being held captive or locked up somewhere. Oh, and before you ask more mouse-brained questions there are a few more 'efficiency' things - remember MuraMasa?"

"It's kinda hard to forget about that godforsaken weapon that belongs to a god of death."

"That was a weapon I pulled from cyberspace - yet another one of my insane combat abilities." Model O spoke, ignoring Maria's sarcastic remark. "All reploid souls return to cyberspace one day, and apparently two half-erased cyberelves gave me the power to access that place and pull out weapons such as MuraMasa." Maria stared at the green spiral marks on her palms. She pictured MuraMasa - a titanic, sixty-foot broadsword that brought hell to earth at her command. "No…freaking… way…there are others like that?"

"Yes. Although most of them don't do as much damage, they can prove very useful indeed when you need another class of weaponry." Model O went on; "And there's a lot more where that came from, considering that for two hundred years I've had nothing better to do than make cyberspace weapons and sharpen MuraMasa. And all THAT hassle leaves out natural regeneration - it kicks in whenever you're injured and heals your wounds. ANOTHER FREAKING modification."

Maria's brain darted back to the battle on Heliopolis. She remembered that her wounds would close up after a few moments. It was as if they had never been there in the first place. Taking all this in, she realized that, as a more experienced and skilled warrior, she was virtually unstoppable.

"That person changed me so much I'd be surprised if there was any part of me -I mean, you - that HASN'T been messed with to mutate you into a god of the battle field." After a moment, Model O added "you're not a normal Megaman. You're a coordinator, like I was two hundred years ago."

Maria blinked in disbelief. "Sixth sense, infra-red vision, modified genetics, sharpened instincts, cyberspace weapons, AND natural regeneration? Talk about WAYY overkill…ah!" She jumped to the right in time to avoid another plasma blast. Whirling around, she whipped a wide arc with the O-saber and cut in half a humanoid maverick that had been there. "Case in point." Her BM gauge lit up, and a rush of power swept through the startled coordinator.

"Level three reached. Level three reached." A red cyber-elf suddenly appeared in front of her.

"Howdy! I'm Jackson, the fire cyber elf! Nice to meet you, Megaman Model O!"

Maria's eyes lit up. "Bethany!" The Ice cyber elf appeared. "This guy is…one of my cyber elves, isn't he?"

"That's right!" Bethany replied, doing a mid-air somersault. "He can unlock your 'Solar Fire' power!"

"Okay! Then let's do that! **Solar Fire, transform!**"Jackson vanished into the fire lock, and the shackle glowed red and fell off. Light flashed, and when it faded, model O's armour was a lighter shade of red and white. Her helmet fins were wider and jutted back. Not to mention that her saber had split in half, so there was two of them.

"Wow, pyro duel-saber! SWEET!" Mavericks appeared around her.

Maria smiled out of complete hysteria. "Alright, who wants a trip to hell?" She dashed straight into the fray, both sabers on fire. Bethany exchanged a startled look with Jackson.

"Oh boy. Is it my imagination, or is she enjoying this…!" Three seconds later the mavericks were dead.

Maria stood up and grinned. "Well, we're done!"

"No we're not! There's still a tonne of stuff to master!"

"What do you mean, Model O?"

"We've got to master the Omega Spirit, we have to re-adjust to muliple weapons, we need to get used to ariel situations...need I go on?"

"Help..."

**/three hours later**

"O, please tell me we can stop now!" Maria complained. She had been training for hours on end, hadn't eaten or had anything to drink, and if she didn't ahve a break soon, she was going to go postal.

"No! I'm NOT leaving until we can control the Omega Spirit! If you go berserk on Legion, god knows what they'll do, but it will probably involve going into solitary confiment for the rest of your existance!"

"Well, how the hell are you expecting me to do that?" Maria demanded. "I don't even know how I got into that state in the first place!"

"Too bad! Figure it out!"

"Of all the biometals I could have gotten, why did I have to get the one with attitude problems...?" Maria whined. She dutifly yanked herself to her feet and picked up her saber.

Bethany and Jackson circled around Maria. "Remember, the Omega Spirit is concentrated on union with you and Model O's spirit." Bethany's voice sounded strange, lower and deeper.

"Without that unity, you cannot activate that state. You must achive a deeper union with your biometal" Jackson's voice was also sounding weird.

"Deeper...?" Maria closed her eyes, listening only to the sounds of her breathing and that of her beating heart. Slowly, slowly, she became aware of another sound. _Another heartbeat...? Mavericks? _The pulse was getting louder. Maria's eyes opened slightly. _No...this...this is Omega's heartbeat! _There it was, a glowing light inside her mind. Omega's...soul. She reached out, not entirely sure what she was doing, and touched it. Suddenly, there was an explosion of power surging through her. Red light exploded from the blue crystal on her helmet, and suddenly Maria was...a perfect copy of the original Omega Zero.

"You did it!"

"Alright." Maria's voice was twined with Omega's. More idiotic mavericks were appearing. "Let's see what this change is all about!"

**/six hours later**

Maria jumped out of the transerver and into Hunter's Camp, extreamly pleased with her progress. She looked around. "Where's Ashe?" _I'll wait for you to come out. My training period is shorter than yours, because they want to give you more extensive tests._ She walked around the camp. Her friend wasn't there. "Now, this is weird. She said that she'd wait until I was done…"

"She's supposed to be here and she isn't. Why do I have a bad feeling about this…?" Jackson muttered.

"What do you mean, bad feeling?" Maria looked around, alarmed. The buildings where intact, and there was no sign of a break in. People were talking and chatting and nothing semmed wrong. "There hasn't been a fight here. There's no trace of struggle anywhere, and everyone looks okay."

"Try asking one of the hunters." Bethany suggested. "They might know. Surly she's just gone out for a walk. At least, I hope so..."

"Okay. Hopefully, you're right and this isn't serious." Maria looked around again.

**/**

"Ashe?" Billy frowned. "Well, you were late back from training, so she decided to take a mission while she was waiting."

"What kind of mission?"

"She's escorting a train to Legion. It's filled with a new kind of energy crystal."

"New?" Now Maria was worried. _I don't like where this is going…_

"Yeah. It's called DawnDusk because of its weird shine. A single fragment of it can power seven generators."

"It's that powerful?" Model O's exclamation of surprise was echoed by Bethany.

"Yeah. There's a motherload of it in the northern mines, and Ashe was called to protect the trains that were taking them to legion."

"How's she doing?" Maria asked. "Can I talk to her?"

"I don't think so. We lost communication with her and the other excavators a little while ago."

**/**

"Red alert!" Model O's voice ripped through Maria's head. "We've got to go and find Ashe right now!"

"Ow! Don't shout! Why do we need to find her right now? What's wrong, Model O?"

"They can't communicate with her. I've been in this situation before and that just screams DANGER! DANGER! DANGER! I bet some maverick cut the link on purpose so they can't call for help!"

Maria didn't want to take his word for it and tried calling. "Ashe? Can you hear me?"

For a few moments all she could hear was static, but then pained voice broke over the faulty line. "Maria?" Maria heard something that caused her blood to run cold. Shouting, gunshots and exploding bombs.

"Ashe? What's going on? What happened?" The link was cut off. Maria grabbed Model O so suddenly both Bethany and Jackson yelped in surprise. "MEGAMERGE!"

Fully merged, Megaman Model O vanished into the transerver. "Hold on, Ashe. I'm coming...!"


	5. Chapter 5

**For all my reviewers, thanks! I appreciate it!**

**Disclaimer: THe usual. I do not own any Capcom characters**

Chapter 5

Maria skidded to a halt and looked out across. The whole land was frozen in ice. The sky was half obscured by thick grey clouds, and the sun bravely stuck out from behind one of them. There was a huge group of mavericks in front of a frozen river. Beyond that, there was another bunch of mavericks engaged with the hunters. They were losing.

"And with that, you have signed your death warrants." The words escaped her lips and she tightened her grip on the fire shackle. "Jackson! **Solar fire. Transform!" **Taking on her fire form, Maria tore past the back mavericks and somersaulted over the river. Once again, her weaknesses and inability on the battlefield deserted her and the mind of a wild and powerful warrior melded with hers. Confusion and fear were replaced by an icy calm. Her blue eyes turned red. The normal, human Maria vanished in the back of her mind and the battle-ready girl that had defeated the invasion of Heliopolis replaced her.

Once again, the enemy seemed to be made completely out of either glass or plastic. Whichever one was more fragile. Breaking open a tank, Maria back flipped to avoid another plasma blast. The battle seemed to end sooner than her last one, or maybe it just felt like that because Maria was more at ease and accustomed to Model O's powers, including the ice form and fire form. Her movements were almost graceful, as if she was dancing. The ice below her melted away as the back group of raiders retreated. Her eyes suddenly turned back to normal.

"Where is the mine?" Maria demanded, directing the question at a nearby hunter.

"It's a bit father up!" He shouted back. "That was the second party. The first one is still engaged against our unit! We'll hold the reinforcements off, you go on ahead!"

"On it." Maria took off. The thick of the fight was just up ahead.

**/Vent's P.O.V.**

"Damn it!" Ashe cursed, blasting away another Mutos. "There's no end to them!"

"Maybe not endless, but damn near it." Vent agreed, crushing a mechadoloid. "Where's the train?"

Ashe looked wildly over her shoulder. The station was empty. The train had left. Without them. "It's gone!"

"Deserters…!" Vent took a blow to the shoulder. "We can't beat them all. There's too many of them!"

"Not for long." A crimson blur appeared over them, and suddenly the mechadoloids were cut apart. It happened so fast Vent couldn't see her weapon moving. The new megaman landed in front of her.

"Maria!" Ashe exclaimed.

Maria looked over her shoulder at her friend. She looked reeeeeally annoyed. "Why didn't you bother leaving a NOTE that you were taking off without me?"

"I didn't think I had to." Ashe stammered, still in shock. "I thought you had extended your training period for another couple hours, and I figured I'd be back before you were out, but then all this happened and-"

"Look, we're in a serious jam." Vent cut her off. Maria blinked.

"You don't say?" She sounded a bit sarcastic.

"The miners deserted when the raiders started coming in great numbers. We've been holding them off as best we can, but I'm starting to run out of strength."

"Leave these guys to me." Maria replied coolly, flashing him a grin.

"Are you crazy?" Vent exclaimed, shocked.

"Watch." Maria turned to face the oncoming wave, turning off the fire form. Figuring she was giving up, the raiders and their mechadoloids surged forward. That's when the green circles on Maria's palms started to glow. Suddenly, a multicolored hole was punched in the sky. The mavericks skidded to a halt, startled. A handle - Vent was willing to bet it alone was bigger than Maria - appeared. Maria looked at the mavericks again, her eyes glowing dangerously. Suddenly, she whipped out a titanic, sixty-foot broadsword out of the hole. It was made of dark energy, and pulsed menacingly. Maria shifted it until it was over her shoulder, her penetrating gaze locked onto the field in front of her. Everyone - even Ashe and Vent - took a big step back. Those mavericks who had been lucky to escape the slaughter on Heliopolis stared in horror at the giant blade that had haunted their sleep ever since poised to wipe them out.

Maria snapped into a combat stance with the blade cocked back to swing. For a single instant, her eyes turned red, and her voice changed. "Burn." MuraMasa whipped in a wide arc, shattering the troops closest and causing a continent-shaking shock wave that cut apart the remaining soldiers. The wave of dark energy annihilated the corpse and devastated the very landscape, until even the seabeds seemed to tremble in fear. Every enemy was destroyed. It was all over in a single swipe.

**/Maria's P.O.V.**

The last of the fleeing raiders looked stunned and terrified. Model O let out a satisfied grunt as it watched the rest of them run like scared little girls. The hunters looked awed…maybe scared? Maria lowered MuraMasa, and the blade vanished. Straightening up, she turned around and smiled sheepishly. "I kinda went overtime in my training trying to lift that thing and use it properly. What do you think?" Model A, Model X and Model Z remained absolutely silent, too stunned to speak. Eventually, Vent broke the silence.

"Oh…my…god."

"That's what I was thinking!" Maria exclaimed, trying to shake off the atmosphere of terror she had created. "When Bethany first suggested it, I nearly throttled her! When I finally agreed to try, it felt like that thing weighed about the same as the planet! Just lifting it hurt like hell. And don't even talk to me about swinging it!"

Her nervous laughter was enough to lighten the mood and assure everyone she was normal again.

Ashe shook her head, smiling warmly. "Maria…" She gave her friend a hug. "Thanks for the rescue."

"You're welcome!"

"I think sometimes we forget what a powerful megaman Maria is…" Modal A gazed out at the swath of destruction that was carved into the landscape.

Vent hadn't moved. He remained where he was, looking out at the slaughtered army. It was impossible to tell what was going on inside his head. His eyes gave nothing away. Suddenly, he turned around and looked straight at her. "Maria?"

"Y-Yeah?" Maria looked slightly freaked out at his serious expression.

"Be careful using that thing." A more light hearted crossed his face. "And thanks again."

Maria ducked her head, smiling shyly. The communicator went off, and Ashe filed in the mission report.

**/Back at hunters camp**

"Wait. You're staying here, Vent?" Ashe looked bewildered.

"Yeah, I thought you were going keep traveling." Maria added. _Oh god, I hope I don't make an idiot out of myself whenever he starts talking to me…_

Vent tipped his head to one side. "What, you don't want me around?"

"Of course not!" Maria replied hastily, jerking her head foreword again.

Vent smiled. "That was a joke."

Maria looked down, starting to blush again. "Oh. I guess humor isn't my forte…"

"_You should see yourself." _Model O remarked in amusement. Jackson chimed in. _"Yeah, totally! If I didn't know you any better, I'd say-_

"**QUIET, JACKSON!" **

"Are you alright?"

"Ack! I'm fine!" Maria fidgeted nervously. Silently she snapped at Jackson:

"_One word and you die."_

"_Yikes! I get it!"_

Vent looked a little worried. "Is something wrong, Maria?"

Maria started laughing nervously. "Oh, it's nothing. Jackson was just being a pain again. That's all." _Why can't I act like a normal person whenever Vent's involved?_


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Same as usual. I own nothing, but Cyrus and Maria are mine.**

Chapter 6

**/Some dark, isolated place far away**

"What happened this time?" The man's voice was dangerously low and quiet.

The raider shivered, terrified. "W-well, we were winning, and then that girl showed-"

The man was on his feet in an instant. "What? _**That **_girl? MARIA? And you didn't inform me because WHY?"

"W-well, I was g-going to, b-but she used the sword!"

"YOU LET HER DEVELOP HER ABILITY TO CONTROL THE BIOMETAL GO THAT FAR?" The man turned around, his voice hoarse with fury. "Ever since I hired you mercenaries, you have been doing nothing but undoing my work. First, you failed to retrieve the biometal. THEN, you let her and her hunter friend get their hands on the red biometal. And NOW, you fail to eliminate Megaman ZX and Megaman A, AND you tell me she can use the cyberspace portholes?"

Disgusted, he snapped his fingers. The sliding walls groaned open. There lay an familiar and deadly weapon. It was supposed to be destroyed, but it wasn't. Then again, it hadn't escaped undamaged. It's unity was broken and several fragments had been completely smashed by its fall from the sky. It was a mess. Mangled and broken, several eyes shattered, and its glow more eerie and blood lustful as ever, the embodiment of evil lay, a mere shadow of its' former self. It shone one of its unbroken eyes on the raider, and immediately the poor man's soul was torn from his body. The black biometal devoured it, and one of its eyes half healed.

The man walked over and ran his hand over it. "How many more cyber elves do I need to fix you?" He whispered. His eyes burned, his tone malevolent. "I need more cyber elves, a powerful underling, someone who will wipe out the other megamen who oppose me, someone who will follow my orders without question. And for that…I need Megaman Model O!" He spun around. "I need Omega's passion for destruction, his bloodlust, his power! With biometal model O in my possession, I can give Model W new life, and rid the world of these disgusting humans once and for all…and I can finally be rid of those miserable megamen!" He looked back at Model W.

"My great-grandfather, Albert…he used your power. He became a god. He had control over the biometals of the Neo Acadia guardians. But when those _pests _showed up, they killed him and nearly destroyed you! Model Z cost me a very valuable warrior, and NOW they've gone and befriended Model O's biomatch!"

"Lord Cyrus." The man paused and turned around. A certain reploid teen with white and purple armour knelt behind him, a beam scythe lying ready next to him.

"Ah, Prometheus. How does it feel to be back in the world of the living?"

"I have very strong feelings about it." The boy replied, raising his head. "I just don't know if they're positive or negative yet."

"Really, there is no reason to be upset about this." Cyrus's voice lowered. "If you obey me and follow my lead, you will be treated well."

Prometheus's eyes narrowed. "How do I know you're not using me, the way Albert did? You won't just throw me away when you've got what you want?"

"Oh I assure you, I will give you your fair share of power when the new world comes into being. Not only that…you will get your sister back. This I can assure you." Cyrus pressed a button on his computer. An image of Pandora's lifeless body inside a capsule appeared on screen.

Prometheus gazed at her for a few long, painful moments, and then he spoke.

"What's my next mission?"

**/At hunter's camp, sunset.**

Vent rested against the head of his bed, looking up at the ceiling.

"Vent. You've been very quiet today. Is there something on you're mind?" Model X appeared, sounding concerned.

"Actually, yes there is." The image of Maria using the MuraMasa flashed through Vent's mind. "I've never seen a more overpowered biometal."

"Model O? I'm sure it has no likeness to Model W, or we would have noticed a long time ago." Model Z said, appearing on Vent's other side.

"I'm not worried about the Biometal, I'm worried about Maria." Vent closed his eyes. "Using something with power that immense might do her harm. Not just physically, but mentally as well. I keep thinking that she might go mad if she uses Model O too much…"

"I know, but she seems to handle it very well." Model X replied.

"Speaking of Maria, haven't you noticed anything…well…_weird _about her?" Model Z inquired.

"Oh really?" Vent's voice grew dry. "Come on, Model Z, it's hard to miss." Now feeling more concerned, he added "what do you think's going on in her head?"

"Well…this is just a wild guess, but maybe…"

"Yeah?"

"I think she kinda likes you…"

Vent sat bolt upright, eyes widening. "Likes? As in like like?" His brain darted back to yesterday.

"_Oh, nothing, Jackson's just being annoying again…" Maria laughed awkwardly. "Oh-you're welcome!" She blushed hard when she gave Model Z back to him. "T-Thanks…" Her blue eyes glowed, startled…maybe shy? _

"Vent?" Vent blinked, his cheeks tinted pink. "Are you hot? You're face is red."

"N-no, I'm fine. It's getting late. Night!" Vent shut off the lights and rolled over in bed, mentally freaking out. _What if Maria really does have a crush on me…?_

His Biometals exchanged a glance. "I just don't get it…"

**/Maria's P.O.V.**

"Come on Maria, up an attem!" The girl rolled over in bed, her eyes half opening as she checked her digital clock.

"Oh come on Model O, it's 6:00 in the morning! Can't you wake me later?"

"Sorry, but I want to get to the Training Gates. It's high time I got another cyber elf!"

Maria buried her head in her arm. "Couldn't we do that later…?"

"No! We have to go NOW! Come on, lazy bones, on your feet!"

"You're going to pay for this someday…" Maria muttered as she heaved herself out of bed and slipped into her clothes. She exited the house while she was getting into her sweater. The camp was quiet, and it was still dark out. For a moment she stood still, gazing up at the stars. "There's so many stars…you can barely see them at all in the city."

She slowly made her way to the transporter and pushed the go button. "Here we go." She stepped inside. Something was different about today. A small screen was hovering in the middle of the canyon.

"What…?" Maria read it slowly. "It's an SOS….oh no!"

"What's wrong?" Bethany exclaimed, startled.

"It's Jonathan!" Maria cried. "He's in trouble!"

"What? Now? When'd this happen?"

"Last night. Someone caught him alone and dragged him away!" Maria's eyes flashed wildly. "I have to find him."

Suddenly, Bethany hissed "Maria, behind you!" Maria spun around. There was a boy standing on the ridge behind her. Judging by the form of his green armour, he was probably another megaman. Suddenly, Model O shouted "Harpuia?" His voice was thick with shock.

"It's been quiet a while, hasn't it Omega?" A voice, calm like the wind, drifted through Maria's mind.

"Why are you here?"

It was the boy who spoke. "I know who took your brother. And I'm going to help you find him."


	7. Chapter 7

Oh man. I had serious writer's block typing this chapter! I hope you enjoy it!

**Disclaimer: I still own nothing. How many times do I have to say it?**

Chapter 7

Maria pushed her way through the debris. "Why is it that every bad guy likes to hang out in dark, desolate, dusty places?" She complained. Her companion, Aeolus, shrugged.

"Not sure. My guess is it provides good cover. Either that or they just hate sunlight."

"That would explain a lot of things." Maria checked the signals again. It hadn't changed. One reploid and several human captives. _Good. He hasn't been moved._ Glancing at Aeolus, she asked "how'd you know where they were?"

"There was a string of kidnappings in the city, and they sent me to find out what was happening. It was about then I saw him add your brother to the crowd."

"Wait. You know that guy?"

"His name is Prometheus. I admit, I've had a few unpleasant encounters with him before. He's an agent of Model W."

"Okay, what's model W?"

"Put simply, it's a biometal that eats human spirits. There's a whole bunch of them, and together they formed the Oroboris." Maria's eyes narrowed at the name.

"I see. So that's where that thing came from. But wasn't the Ouroboros destroyed a year ago? It was in the news."

"It was, but only to a point." Aeolus replied grimly. "Its unity is broken and it's badly damaged, but it still exists as separate model Ws. I believe that your brother and the rest of the people they've kidnapped are going to become that thing's lunch if we can't intercept Prometheus before he brings them to the Biometal."

Maria picked up the pace a bit. "Is Albert still alive?"

Aeolus shook his head. "No. They found his dead body underwater a few weeks ago. My guess is Model W possessed someone else, and filled their head with Albert's desires."

"To destroy the world, I presume?"

"Yup. Pretty much."

"This is getting pretty ugly, isn't it?" Maria said. "Now I understand why he wants my biometal. Makes sense, after I've experienced what it can do."

"In the wrong hands, that thing is a killing machine." Aeolus agreed quietly. "And the more people who die, the more cyber elves Model W can eat."

"I don't know if you can get much lower than that." Maria commented icily. "Eating people's spirits." Aeolus didn't reply, but he nodded darkly.

"We're here."

Maria skidded to a stop. The factory was broken down…_mostly_. The building's ceiling was long since gone, and the walls were crumbling. Inside, there was a holding cage. Inside that, Jonathan and several other children were leaning against the walls, their eyes wide with fear.

"Sis? Help. I'm scared!"

"Don't be!" Aeolus ordered. "Model W can only eat the souls of people who give in to fear. Stay calm! We'll get you out!"

"Don't be scared. Right. Yeah, we'll just do that…" Jonathan took several deep breathes and swallowed hard. Some of the other kids looked a bit fried, but had no wish to lose their souls, so they clustered together and began to take deep breaths, as if they were trying to gather courage from each other.

"Humph! I was wondering when you'd show up." There was a burst of fire, and then a boy with the getup of a grim reaper landed in front of the cage. Straightening up, he whipped out his beam scythe. "I was beginning to think you had missed the SOS."

"Let them go." Maria growled.

"Or what?" Prometheus replied evenly. "You have power, yes, but can you control it? I know perfectly well what happened the last time you used the Omega Spirit. You couldn't even control your own body."

"I suppose you think I can't do anything without the spirit active." Maria challenged. "If you're going to fight me, you better just get started."

Prometheus let out a bored sigh. "Yes yes. To be honest with you, I'd love no more than to take you down right here and now. Luckily for you, I have more important things to attend to." With that, he warped out.

"Is he some kind of chicken or what?" Model O demanded. Aeolus shook his head.

"He's was probably just trying to provoke you. And when that didn't work out, he decided to find something better to do. But I'd say he sent someone else to fight us." There was an earsplitting crack, and suddenly a humanoid lizard burst out of the earth and faced them. "Yup, that's what I thought."

The lizard frowned and looked to the right and to the left. "My my, has Prometheus left already? He's so impatient. Master Cyrus said he'd resurrect Pandora AFTER we destoryed the world, and he's still trying to get her back ahead of schedule." He gave Maria and Aeolus an aloof look. "And I get stuck dealing with a pair of kids. Why me?"

"You're pretty whiny for a Suluriod." Aeolus remarked. "I suppose you're the decoy that's used whenever one of the more important fighters needs a quick getaway."

"What are you doing?" Maria asked, staring at him.

"Just watch." The wind megaman replied without looking over his shoulder.

"Hey! Wise guy! Are you trying to make me mad?"

Aeolus chuckled a bit. "That's what I thought. You're a Suluriod, but you've got to be a pretty low-ranking one. You're weaker than Hedgeshock!"

"You-! I show you power!" The lizard picked up a boulder and threw it at him. Aeolus just ducked, and the rock smashed the computer terminal instead. The shield around Jonathan and the other children vanished. "Wha-"

Suddenly, Aeolus was standing behind him. "I just needed you to open the elemental gate. So now, there is no further use of your existence." With that, he cut the lizard in half.

"Wow. Cool!" Maria was impressed.

"Show off." Model O muttered.

"Th-thanks sis…" Jonathan panicked suddenly. "Look out, someone's coming!" Maria whirled around and ducked-just in time to avoid a blast of fire aimed straight at her. Out of the smoke stepped another girl. Her armour was white and orange, and she was holding two huge guns. Something told Maria she wasn't the welcome wagon.

"Hump! I see I missed. Too bad. I'll just aim more carefully this time."

Aeolus stood up at looked at her. "Atlas. Why are you here?"

"Why?" Atlas repeated, her voice suddenly getting low and dangerous. "What do you mean why, traitor?"

"Traitor?" Maria echoed, looking back and forth between them, mystified.

"Hey! H! What's this crazy girl talking about? Please enlighten me!" Model O shouted. "Fefner! Perhaps you should explain instead!"

"Don't try to talk to him. Right now, Fefner cannot speak." The green biometal said softly.

"Huh? Why not?"

"Model F and the girl in front of you are under a kind of curse. I myself was once under it as well. You could say we broke out of that group once Aeolus regained his will." Model H replied mildly.

"You mean…she's under some kind of influence?" One of the kids piped up.

"Shut up!" Atlas barked, and the kid ducked in time to avoid the fire.

"Leave them alone, Atlas. If you've come to fight me, so be it. But leave them alone."

Atlas just walked over to the building's last support. "Spare the chivalry. You're all going to die here." She looked over at her victims. "What I want to know is why. Why did you do it? Why did you betray me?"

"Atlas, I haven't! If anything, I'm trying to help you!"

For just a moment, Maria could have sworn she saw tears in Atlas's eyes. But she spun around before she could be sure. Atlas punched the pillar, hard. As the ground shook violently, she warped out.

Aeolus looked away. "I understand. My voice isn't reaching her."

"Hey! Aeolus!" Maria yelled for his attention. "We need to stay out of that abbys!"

"Any ideas?" Aeolus's voice was flat. Maria was certain it wasn't about the current situation, but his confrontation with Atlas.

Maria took a deep breath. "We need to get induce the Omega Spirit!"

Aeolus's expression was blank. "And that is…what exactly?"

"Never mind! I'll explain later! Just call on Harpuia! With that, we can get out of here before it falls in on itself!"

"I don't know how!"

"You can do it! You did transform, right?" Maria closed her eyes before Aeolus could say anything else. _Omega…Omega…Omega…OMEGA! _There was a eruption of strength surging through her, and then she could feel Omega within her, ready to use his power to help her.

"Call Harpuia…?" It didn't make a lot of sense, but he couldn't think of anything better to do. Aeolus reached out in his mind, and suddenly everything went dark. In front of him stood a reploid clad in green armour almost identical to that of his own when he was fused with Model H.

"Take my hand." Maria grinned when she saw the flash of energy that signaled the Omega Spirit was active.

"See? What'd I tell you?"

"This is amazing. I've never…" Aeolus looked thrilled. "I didn't think it was possible."

**/**

Maria grabbed Jonathan. "Hold on tight." A brilliant flash of energy surrounded them, and suddenly they were on the ridge a ways away from hunter's camp. Slowly, they both returned to normal.

"How did that happen?" Aeolus sounded dazed. "There was so much energy…"

Maria smiled, feeling a sudden burst of warmth towards her new friend. "Thanks for helping me find Jonathan. Whenever you need help, let me know! Especially if it involves a certain brain-controlled megaman we both know well."

Aeolus smiled ever so slightly. "Thank you."


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Megaman ZX**

Chapter 8

"I still can't believe it." Ashe muttered. She and Vent were in the cafeteria, having lunch. It was the middle of the day when Maria returned, along with her brother and a couple other children and a story that had nearly blown her straight off the fire escape, if you know what I mean. "I mean, about Aeolus. That guy's tried to kill me! Twice! And all of a sudden he helps Maria find her brother?"

"I don't know any more about Aeolus's behavior than you, but I don't really think he's the worst of our problems at the moment." Vent replied mildly. "If Model W really does still exist, we may need all the help we can get."

"That's another thing I don't understand." Ashe said, slamming her cup down on the table. "I thought we destroyed it! You saw it fall into the ocean. And Prometheus! He should be dead right now! And come to think of it, so should Aeolus and Atlas! And if they're still alive, I'll wager Thetis and Siarnaq are alive too! What in the eight hells is going on?"

"Once again, I don't know." Vent replied, his eyes narrowing. "And believe me, I don't like it any more than you do. Model W must have infected someone else. I wonder just how much Aeolus told Maria."

"Didn't she tell us everything?"

"You blew up when she mentioned him. I don't think she was done talking."

Ashe sighed. "My bad." She looked over her shoulder. "Speaking of which, is Maria STILL inside the training area?"

"I think so."

"Man, that girl must be made out of cast iron. Even I could only last about an hour, and she's been in there ever since she got back!"

As if on cue, Maria stumbled into the cafeteria, looking like she might faint any second. Her eyes were blank and cloudy, as if she had had a rough time.

Ashe looked at her, an amazed expression on her face. "Are you alright?"

"Can't…answer that…" Maria replied, groaning. She slumped into her chair. "O…wouldn't leave…without another…elemental cyber elf."

"And you got one." Vent guessed. "Or you wouldn't be here right now."

A brown cyber elf flew about, playfully chasing Bethany in circles.

"Yup." Maria took a huge drink of water, and her eyes cleared up a bit. "Tasha, the earth cyber elf." The cyber elf paused, waved, and then went back to chasing her friend around and around. "So what were you guys talking about?"

"Model W." Vent replied. His expression was dark and serious. "I think we should be prepared for more kidnappings."

"I guess." Maria mumbled. Vent narrowed his eyes, this time out of concern.

"Are you SURE you're okay? Because you _look _like someone dragged you through the underworld."

"It sure as hell feels like it." Maria hauled herself to her feet. "But if I'm going to beat Model W, I'm going to need to be as tough as possible. I guess I've got to get back to hell training now."

"Maria, you're exhausted. You should take a break."

"I'm fine-" Maria's protest was cut off as Vent suddenly grabbed her and pulled her closer. The color of her face promptly matched that of her biometal's armour. "Vent…?"

"Forgive me if I don't believe that." Vent's voice was warm, teasing. Maria fainted dead away. Vent picked her up into his arms, trying hard not to blush. "I'll take her back to her room."

"Good idea. She's totally worn out." Tasha said, stopping again. She and Bethany disappeared into Model O.

"Maria." The Biometal groaned. "You can take out armies of mavericks and yet you can't even stay awake when your crush suddenly takes hold of you…it's so sad, I think I could cry…"

As soon as Vent left, Ashe let out an envious sigh.

"Wait. Ashe, don't tell me you're jealous." Model A exclaimed.

"I hope Maria knows how lucky she is." Ashe stared after them. "It's impossible NOT to like someone like Vent…"

**/Maria's room, three days later**

Maria opened her eyes, feeling much better than she had after getting out of the training gate. "I don't know about you guys, but I feel awesome!"

"See? It's amazing what getting a little rest can do for you." Vent's voice drifted from the other room. He opened the door and sat down next to her.

Maria immediately averted her eyes and began to study the carpet. She could feel her face heating up, and she was frustrated with how little she could control her emotions. There was an awkward silence.

"Maria? Is something wrong?"

"W-No, I'm fine." Maria searched madly for a way to start another conversation. Finally she mumbled. "I was just thinking about Model W and why people would use it."

_Okay, so that wasn't my best conversational effort ever. _Vent turned his head slightly and looked out the window.

"Prairie told me that model W was the shattered remains of a planetary cannon containing the soul of a man who tried to destroy the world. He hated it, so he wanted to kill everyone and reduce the planet to charred wasteland. For revenge." He sighed softly. "Always revenge…"

Maria was getting more and more confused. "What do you mean, 'always revenge'?"

"I'm going to tell you something I don't tell a lot of people. Heck; I haven't even told Ashe. But…"

"Memory of what? What happened?" _Okay, now I'm really worried. _

"I've fought a piece of Model W before. A few years ago, when we thought there was only one of them." Vent's voice was distant, as if he was far away. "I…my mom died in a maverick raid when I was really young. Boss found me, alone and ready to die, and he took care of me. But…"

Maria almost wanted to change the subject and avoid the question, but she blurted out "what happened?"

"I lost him to Serpent." Vent's tone of voice grew dull. His grip on Model Z tightened. "Model Z is all I have left of him. I hated Serpent so much, when I finally fought him, he used my anger to awaken Model W. I still managed to destroy it, but I remember how intense that rage was. Just thinking about it give me chills."

For a few moments, Maria didn't say anything. She didn't know _what _to say…and suddenly she wanted to share the incident that she had for so long tried to bury in the deepest pits of her mind.

"I…I've felt like that too." All at once, the story of Heliopolis's destruction spilled out between harsh efforts to swallow her tears, describing the all-consuming hatred she had felt that had activated the Omega Spirit. "It all happened so fast. One second she was alive, and the next thing I knew they had shot her. I felt so sad and angry it was like I became a different person. I didn't even realize how many of them I had killed until I regained my senses. I was like some kind of monster. I'm _scared, _Vent. What if that happens again? I might start attacking innocent people!"

Vent gently put his arms around her shoulders. "Don't hold back your feelings on my account. If you feel like crying, that's okay."

Maria wasn't really sure how long and hard she cried, but it was a while. She could see Vent's expression through her bury vision, and she was grateful for his understanding.

"It's hard." Maria brushed the tears away from her eyes and buried her head in Vent's shoulder, unable to trust her body to hold her steady.

His voice was empty of emotion. "I wouldn't let other people see my tears either. And yet I find that talking about it is better than keeping your fears and regrets trapped inside you."

Maria decided to change the general subject to another thing that was disturbing her. "Vent? Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." He also seemed relived at the idea of talking about something else.

"Why do you think Aeolus and the other Megamen he knew were brainwashed? How are we going to help them?"

"I don't know." Vent replied steadily. "And I'm not entirely sure how to reverse it. But I have this feeling that it might be connected to something awful that happened to each of them some time ago. I don't know why I'm so certain, but something tells me they wouldn't have let something like Model W get into their minds without some reason. But if Aeolus could free himself, maybe the others could do the same."

"I sure hope so."

There was a long silence. Then… "You're cute, Maria."

Maria snapped back to her normal self, pulling back and staring at him. "Oh…! You really think so?"

"Well, yeah….oh shucks, did I really say that out loud?"

Maria managed to smile back. "I like you." It just took those three words and her secret was out.

"Thanks." That's when Vent kissed her. "I've got a mission to do, but I'll be back soon. See you later." He left. Maria sat on her bed, blushing like mad. Her Biometal and three cyber elves were hovering nearby. And if a struck-dumb expression could melt a wall, then the entire building would have collapsed.

"I will never figure humans out." Model O declared.

"You, me, and us together." Tasha replied, staring at Maria as if her master had just turned into a mongoose.

"Ditto, on this the four of us can agree." Jackson's voice was dry as the sands of a desert.

**/three days later**

Maria turned around and blasted another maverick with her earth cannon. With no new attacks, there was no way to avoid small-fry missions, obsessive training (thanks, Model O), and waiting. God, Maria _hated _waiting!

"I feel like a fat, idiotic vole sitting around, waiting for some hungry cat to come out of no where and eat me!" She howled, venting her frustration on the nearest Mutos. The unlucky bat was promptly buried under 50 kilos of solid rock. Maria paced back and forth like a caged tiger, waiting for the next batch of mavericks to be entered into the arena.

"If you're bored, how the hell do you think I feel?" Model O demanded. "If I have to go through one more errand-mission, I will blow a circuit!"

"It's not like I want people to get kidnapped, but we're supposed to be fighting the embodiment of hell, right? So waiting around for it to do something is driving me mad!" Maria's exasperation was the bane of the poor Mutos that was being used as a vent for it.

"Out of sheer nervousness, no doubt." Jackson commented icily.

"Oh really, smart aleck? Then I'll use your power for a while!"

"Why couldn't I keep my mouth shut?" Jackson whined as he flew into the fire shackle. Tasha brushed him with her hand as she flew over to join Bethany, who was still recovering from a six-hour training period in extreme heat.

"What is wrong with that girl?" Bethany whimpered. "She's suddenly being so mean!"

"I'm sure it's just from the pressure, Bethany. She'll turn back to normal afterwards." Tasha replied, smiling.

"I sure hope so."

Maria skidded to a halt and checked her watch. "Hey! It's lunch time!"

"Lucky me…" The cyber-elves disappeared into Maria's Biometal and she warped out. She had just gotten to the lobby, she saw Vent, Ashe and…

"Hey! Aeolus!" When Maria caught up, she noticed the grave expression on her friend's face. "Uh? Okay, why's everyone looking like the sky just fell in?"

**/Area 67**

"I had to ask, didn't I?" Maria wondered out loud as she fended off another meteor of heat. Apparently, there was a sudden fire in the nuclear power plant, and if it wasn't stopped in some minuets, it would explode and the radiation would spread for miles, killing thousands of people. Although the culprit was supposedly unknown, privately Maria was almost positive that Atlas was in charge of this mess. After all, aside from herself the flame megaman was the only one capable of setting a fire this big.

_Man, I don't know what Model W did to her, but it's bad and probably getting worse by the minuet. _Maria's pace quickened. _I'm not sure exactly what I have to do, but…maybe if I have a chance of jogging her real memories, I can help her snap out of it. If only I knew what happened to her…_She let out a breath, and her eyes narrowed against the fire. _This battle with be psychological just as much as it is with the sword. I have to save her, somehow, someway…_

"Maria, the control room is just ahead." Jackson's voice was tight. He was just as worried about the current situation as she was. Maria pushed the damaged remains of the door to one side and walked in. Atlas was standing, fully merged, in front of the generator. It was overflowing with power from her biometal. Her eyes flicked toward their edge, towards Maria.

"It's you." Her voice was cold and measured. "Maria, right?"

Maria took out her saber but kept it deactive. "Yes."

"I know why you're here." Atlas turned around. "You're going to tell me to turn off the heat, and that these are actions of evil. Am I right?"

"Maybe, maybe not." Maria replied, forcing herself to keep her voice calm and even. "What do you _think _you're doing?"

Atlas's eyes narrowed, fires flickering in their depths. "You want to know? Fine. I'm purifying this world. If all the humans who limp behind progress are gone, the world will enjoy true peace forever. With one great power, war and strife will end. No one else will have to die."

"Atlas, you know the adverse of that statement, right?" Maria's voice escalated about bit. "Model W has already killed scores of innocent people!"

"Innocent?" Atlas's voice was coated with venom. "Go tell that to all the people they murdered. If you look through history, the only things humans can do fall into hating each other, lying to each other, and finding more and more ways to slaughter each other in foolish wars. They always want what someone else has, and are ready to kill to achieve their own petty goals in life. Is this pathetic wonder really what you're giving all your strength to protect?"

"Atlas…" That's when it hit Maria. "Why do you hate me? Why do you hate humankind so much? Tell me!"

"You want to know? Very well. It happened several years ago…"

/

_Flashback_

"_A network of mavericks has launched a devastating strike against our homeland. Estimates place the death tool at 35000, and 60% of our country has been reduced to charred wasteland. We are requesting emergency aid as soon as possible…"_

_Atlas slowly opened her eyes and pulled herself to her feet. All around her, she could see the bodies of her dead and dying comrades, close friends. But the worst was yet to come. When she finally stumbled back to the residence, everyone was dead. Even Mike._

_/Flashback ends_

"I lost my brother, my home, my friends, and half my body had to be replaced and mechanized." A single teardrop rolled down Atlas's face. "I gave all I had to give in order to protect people. I believed that peace was worth dying for. But then, when we in our darkest hour, they made no move to help us. Legion left us to die, even in the light of everything we had done for them. They ended it, and for that they must pay…!"

Maria's heart ached with sudden sympathy. She could remember her own feelings when her mother died, great sorrow and hatred mixed together. "Atlas, I…" She looked up, and that's when she saw it. A single, glittering black crystal embedded in Model F's head guard. It pulsed, sending black bolts of energy through Atlas's body.

"What is that?"

"Don't know, but something tells me it's playing a role in Atlas's curse." Model O's voice was taught with anger. "That Albert was so cowardly that he wouldn't even fight his own battles."

Atlas regained her composure. "And that's why I have to do this. Humans are weak. They must perish!"

"Do you have any idea what you're doing?" Maria demanded. "Atlas, don't you care if you create more innocent victims like you brother and your comrades?"

"What are you saying?"

"The people your about to destroy have families and friends they care about to! It's wrong to think any action like the one your carrying out is justified by what happened before this. _Especially _since you of all people should know how much it hurts to lose the people you love!" Maria took a step towards Atlas, who suddenly started backing off.

"Stop it, what are you doing to me!"

"I'm trying to free you." Maria felt teardrops running down her cheeks. "I regret things, too. My mom is dead, and she died protecting me from mavericks. Most of the people on Heliopolis are dead because I didn't get to Model O sooner. Those are two things I regret now. No matter what, I can't let you keep doing more and more things that in your heart, you know their wrong."

The black shard starting flashing madly, and started to slip out. "Get…out…of …my…head!" Suddenly, Atlas collapsed. The shard, fully exorcized, fell to the floor. An explosion of dark aura burst free of its cracks, and slowly formed a prefect copy of Model F, except it was black from head to toe and its eyes were blood red.

"I knew there was something wrong with that chip." Maria flicked the switch and her saber materialized in a flash. "You took advantage of her pain and used her body as a vessel, didn't you?"

Chilling laughter echoed through the halls in reply. "Yes, and no one even noticed. It was a pretty clever trick, don't you think?"

"I'll tell you what I think." Maria spat, taking on a combat stance. She felt like something inside of her was burning, a cold flame piercing heart and turning it to stone. "You are the most demented, warped puppeteer that ever existed! It makes me sick to acknowledge your worthless existence!" Her eyes narrowed…and turned red. "On second thought, your not even trash! Scum like you aren't worth the lowest pits of hell!" With that, she attacked.

"How dare you insult me…I was just under orders to destroy this generator, but if you want a fight, I'll indulge you!"


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Megaman ZX

Chapter 9 Maria vs Shadow F

What happened to Maria is what happens to just about everyone who gets attacked by model F-you get pitched through a wall. Or several walls, in this instance. Maria sat upright, brushing the dust of her arms. "You actually threw me through a wall! I'm going to like this!" She grabbed her buster and released a charge attack. Shadow F twisted to the right and avoided the blast.

"You hesitated. Why?"

Maria grinned. That was when Shadow F realized she had a death grip on her arm.

"Oh don't worry. That was just supposed to get your attention." Maria slugged her, full in the face. Shadow F crashed into the wall, and slowly got to her feet.

"Well, you may just be worth my time after all!" Gun's primed, Shadow F unleashed a flurry of bombs.

_DUCK! _Maria threw herself to the floor as the devastating hail flew over her head. Activating her saber, she flipped to her feet and met Shadow F head on. Explosions rocked the floor as their attacks cancelled each other out and they both flew backwards. Maria regained her footing in time to see her next attack.

"Okay, who the hell throws a mine car at an opponent?" She split it with a well-aimed slash from her saber. The splinters of the wreck cut Maria's face.

"Natural regeneration." Shadow F observed as the red marks on Maria's face healed. "In that case…I just have to pound you until there's nothing left!" Fire burned the floor as the fight resumed. Maria felt every punch. Her vision was blurry from sweat and blood. Brushing it away from her eyes, Maria dropped to avoid another kick and swiftly knocked Shadow F's legs out from under her. In the second the shadow recovered, Maria cut a swath right across her arm. Shadow F started grinning manically and grabbed Maria's wrist.

_Shit! _Maria crashed through the wall and collapsed. She shivered, pretending to be near defeat. _This has to work. _With a triumphant expression on her face, Shadow F pulled Maria up to face level. In an instant, Maria grabbed her saber, reactivated it, and struck the crystal in the middle of Shadow F's head guard. Immediately the shadow let go of her and screeched. Electricity coursed through it.

_That's it! _Maria unsteadily pulled herself to her feet.

_Great._ Shadow F thought, also getting back up, gripping her head as pain tore through her body. _She found my weak point. I can't take too many of those blows…_

Warily the two circled each other, not sure what to do next. _I need to hit that crystal again. _Maria thought, focusing on the cracked red beacon. _Wait for her to come to you._

Shadow F hissed softly. _I need to take her out before she can fully exploit my only weakness. _"Okay. Now the training wheels come off." Dark aura began spilling out of her. Maria took a step back, readying herself. She didn't move, just holding her saber out in front of her face.

Shadow F fell for it. As she charged forwards, Maria twisted her head to avoid the initial blow and hit the crystal again with all her strength. Shadow F screeched. She put her other arm against Maria's neck and threw her through yet another wall. Maria staggered and knelt. Her entire body screamed with pain. She was too dizzy to stand up.

"W…What is…going…on? I…feel…so…weak…" Maria groaned. Then, there was a sharp crack and a bomb flew over her head. Shadow F screeched as it hit the crystal.

"You're not bailing out now, are you?" Maria blinked in confusion, and then a red-armored hand grabbed her and yanked her to her feet.

"Atlas! You're awake!"

"We've got a problem." The fire megaman said, ignoring Maria as she tried to interrupt. "The nuclear generator is about to melt. Now get back there and cool it off! You can leave this one to me."

"But-" Atlas turned around and shoved Maria backwards towards the door. "I don't want to hear your excuses, just DO IT!"

"I'll be back." Maria promised hastily. Atlas watched her leave, and then turned around and faced her shadow copy.

"I'm about to pay you back for what you used my body to do."

Shadow F hissed. "If you want to die that badly, so be it!"

Atlas just grinned. "Bring it on."

/Generator room

Maria skidded to a halt and looked the generator over. It was red hot and ready to melt. "Let's go, Bethany!" Changing into her ice form, Maria blasted the generator with ice.

"Make it colder!" Bethany squeaked.

"I'm trying!" Maria retorted hotly. The entire generator was slowly freezing over when the emergency lights finally dimmed and turned green. Maria let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness." There was a loud crashing noise coming from the other direction. After a few seconds, Atlas walked in, looking rather pleased with herself.

"Are you okay?" Maria asked in concern.

"Yup." Atlas replied smugly. "My Shadow copy, on the other hand, is a another story altogether."

Maria smiled awkwardly. It didn't take a genius to figure out what happened to that shadow. "Um, thanks for bailing me out."

"No problem."

/Hunter's camp

"Maaaaaaan, some week I've been having!" Maria exclaimed as she and Atlas walked into the camp.

"Was it really that boring?"

"Except for the shadow copy business, yes it was."

"I'd be more surprised if the shadow copy incident WAS boring…" They stood in silence for a moment.

"Let's find the boys." Maria said suddenly. Atlas giggled.

"Read my mind."

/Auther's note: GOD! WRITER'S BLOCK! I WISH SOME SCIENTIST WOULD COME UP WITH A CURE FOR IT! Sorry if this chapter is overdue, I had a big case of, yes, writer's block. Sorry if it's short.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Vent shook his head. "Maria, you never cease to amaze me. You saved all those people by yourself."

Maria beamed. "Thanks! But I wasn't totally alone. Atlas helped me." They were sitting by the side of the river, listening to the sounds of the night. The sky was clear, and the stars were out. The rhythm of the river washing over the stones could be heard against the backdrop of chirping crickets and hooting owls. Maria sighed, content. _it's nice to have a clear head once and a while, nothing to think about…_Vent slid his hand over hers.

"It's a beautiful night."

"Yes. It is." Maria murmured, blushing slightly.

"How'd you know how to help Atlas back in the plant?" Vent asked.

"She has a heart. I just needed to know how to reach it." Maria replied. "When I did, she did the rest. Atlas is a good person at heart…she just let her emotions block out her logic when she found all her friends dead. She was so shaken that it was easy for the dark chip to twist her sense of justice and view of humanity far enough for it to take over her body."

Vent's grip on her hand tightened when she mentioned the dark chip. "Vent? You're crushing the bones in my hand…"

"Sorry." He looked up, into her eyes, while his grip on her hand loosened. "My bad. I get upset when I think about that chip."

"I don't blame you for that." Maria agreed quietly. Vent leaned over, sliding her arm around her waist.

"You're beautiful, Maria."

Maria's face turned bright red. "T-Thank you, Vent." The brown-haired boy smiled, and, in a delicate fashion, pushed his lips against hers.

**/Further up the Ridge, Aeolus's P.O.V.**

Aeolus sat on the ridge overlooking hunter's camp, feeling the wind against his face.

"Hey there tough guy." Aeolus blinked. Atlas walked over and sat down next to him.

"Atlas." The former solider smiled.

"Good to see you in one piece." She squeezed his hand. "You had me worried for a little."

"You? Worried?" Aeolus chuckled. "I didn't think you worried about anything."

"Maybe I'm re-evaluating myself." Atlas said softly. She kissed him. Aeolus blushed.

**/Prometheus's P.O.V.**

Prometheus smashed the door down and walked into the terminal room. Impatiens welled up inside him. He wanted to see Pandora alive again. He didn't want to be killing time with these stupid missions. He wanted his sister back.

"All or nothing, I suppose." He muttered. "Two dark chips have been destroyed. If this keeps up, Thetis and Siarnaq won't be on our side for long." He had given them restraint orders and went to this cursed place personally. Albert's old base of operations, hidden in Legion city. On Cyrus's orders, he was retrieving data on Project Grey - the grey haired reploid boy who was inside a capsule in Cyrus's hands. Cyrus didn't want to mess up Grey's programming so he sent Prometheus to gather all data related to him. He was the only one who'd be able to face Maria as a possible equal.

What was Grey anyway? In Albert's plan, what was he supposed to be? Why had Albert created him, when he was saving the throne for himself…? As Prometheus gathered the data, he read something that made his heart stop cold for a few moments.

Name: Grey

Age: 14

Purpose: Megaman King

There was a loud snap, and the water inside the tank drained. The glass slid down, and Prometheus stared in shock as Grey stepped to the floor, his eyes flickering from red to green to red to green. "Where am I?"

**/Author's note: **Dun Dun Duhhhhh! How will everyone react when they find out what Albert intended Grey to be? And what will Grey do when he first wakes up? I hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	11. Chapter 11

Whew! I am BACK! Sorry about any delay, but I was up at my cottage and there was no internet acess up there. Luckily, I got back and finished the chapter. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 11: The Dream

Grey was very confused. _Where am I? Why am I here? How did I get here? Why do I feel so weak? And why can't I remember anything? _He looked around, taking in his surroundings. It looked like a lab, but it was in bad shape, and dusty, as if no one had been inside it for a long time. There was a clinking noise, and he looked down. There were shackles around his wrists.

"Why are these here?" Grey pondered how to get them off. Finally, he saw a blade lying on the wall. He smashed the chains against it, and they fell off easily.

"Hello?" He called, wandering into the next room. "Is anyone here?" There was no reply. Grey wandered down the halls when he was confronted by a squad of gallons, all aiming their guns at him.

"Wha-" Grey was cut off as the gallons opened fire. He dropped to the floor and thought fast. _I need a weapon! _Knocking one of the gallons off balance, Grey snatched its buster and shot the gallons full of holes.

"I have to get out of here!" He ran for the exit. The way out was clogged with mavericks and gas leaks. Grey's mind was in a storm as he pushed his way out, towards the bridge. Breathless, he paused on the bridge, trying to catch his breath. At that moment, a giant mechadoloid with huge hands and eyes appeared behind him.

Grey hissed in exasperation. "What does it take to catch a break in this place?" He took hold of one of the mechadoliod's hands and pulled himself on. The mechadoloid turned its head towards him.

_The eyes are the weak point. _Grey took a deep breath, let it out slow, and shot at the machine's eyes in rapid succession. One of them broke.

Grey saw the attack coming, and dove off when one hand crashed into the other. "Try to squash me! Just try!" Again, he aimed for the eye. It shattered. The mechadoloid exploded. Grey put his gun away and stood still.

There was a click of a stopwatch. "Ten minuets. I'm impressed." Grey spun around. A young man stepped out of the second building. He wore a white straightjacket and blue leggings. His hair was blue.

"Who are you? What do you mean, ten minuets?" Grey was confused.

"Ah! Simple question, not so simple and answer. You see, I'm in a bit of a bind, and I had to turn to you, my father's last project. I just had to test you out."

Grey thought about the gallons and the mechadoliod. "So, trying to kill me counts as testing me?"

The man chuckled. "You have spirit, Grey."

"Grey?" Confusion appeared on the boy's face. "Is that my name?"

"Yes." The man turned, and signaled for Grey to follow him. "Come. I am Cyrus, and I will tell you all you need to know."

**/Cyrus's base of operations**

Grey walked among the many equipment rooms, impressed. "How did you get all this stuff? I didn't know half of this kind of weaponry was even legal."

Cyrus laughed. "I have ways of getting around the rules, Grey. Don't concern yourself with that. The main room is just ahead."

Grey looked up at the huge doors. Cyrus punched in some numbers, and they slid open. Grey stared in awe at the huge metallic hunks. "What are these?" Grey ran though the ranks, investigating each one with childish delight.

"Model W." Cyrus replied when Grey finally darted back to him. "They…are the key to resetting the world."

"Resetting?" You could almost see the question marks hovering above Grey's head. "Is that even possible?"

"With this, it is. If it wasn't broken." Cyrus replied, a sliver of ice in his voice. "I need your help repairing it."

"Okay. How do we do that?" Grey asked.

"Go, terrify the people, and collect their souls." Cyrus replied in a practical tone of voice. Grey's mouth fell open.

"Isn't that kinda…what's the word…mea-hard?" Grey decided not to say mean when a grim reaper reploid standing nearby shot him a death look.

"That's why I'm sending Prometheus with you on your first outing." Cyrus answered. "He'll show you what to do. Right, Prometheus?"

The grim reaper sighed. "Help this kid? I suppose I must. You-come with me." He grabbed Grey's hand and started pulling him towards the lab. "Let's get your half of Model A and get out there."

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Don't drag, I'm coming!" Cyrus was almost amused by Grey's childish behavior. _It's almost a pity I'll have to train that out of him._

**/In the lab**

"Okay, kid, this is your biometal." Prometheus tossed Grey an black-and-red version of Model A.

"What does it do?"

"Shout 'Megamerge'"

"Okay. MEGAMERGE!" Grey's transformed form was like Ashe's, except he had no ponytail and his armour was black and red rather than red and purple.

"How cool! What else does this thing do?" And Grey ran about trying to figure out Model A's powers, Prometheus let out a resigned sigh. _This kid is just to innocent to have been made by Albert. Was he reprogrammed? _

"Come on, kid, when you're quite finished, we're going to Point 99."

"Alright, I'm right behind you. And will you PLEASE stop calling me kid?" Grey ran after his 'older brother' as he entered the transerver and headed for the town.

**/Maria's P.O.V.**

Maria tossed in bed. She was having a not-so-pleasant dream.

_/dream_

_Maria was standing in an old building. At first she thought it was empty, but then she saw someone else. It was a boy. Maria's eyes widened. He looked EXACTLY like her, from his long silver hair to his bright blue eyes. _

"_Hello?" She asked carefully. The boy seemed to take notice of her for the first time. His eyes widened._

"_You look like me."_

"_You look like ME," Maria replied, taking a few steps forward. The boy was more cautious, remaining several paces away. _

"_Are we…twins?" Maria was bewildered at the concept. As far as she knew, Jonathan was the only brother she had. But this boy, who looked exactly like her, no joke, even had a similar voice, and he was holding something. All at once, Maria realized it was Model O. _

"_You have Model O too?"_

"_Huh?" The boy blinked, and looked at the object in his hand. "Oh, this. It's my biometal."_

"_But I have it too-" Maria stopped mid-sentence, and pulled Model O out of her pocket. It reacted immedeatly._

"_Maria, that's my other half!" The biometal exploded, staring at the copy of itself. _

"_What?" Maria's eyes widened._

"_Who are you?" The boy asked, taking a pace forward, confused. "What's your name?"_

"_Maria. Maria Light." Maria replied slowly._

_The boy looked surprised, and his eyes grew bright. "We ARE related!"_

"_We are?" _

_Before Maria could ask anymore questions, the room was consumed with fire. She was megamerged, and fighting in the streets. A little ways away, her twin was kneeling next to someone. Definitely their age, definitely a girl. The look in his eyes, blank with horror, was changing. He stood up, very slowly._

_Maria's blood grew cold. His eyes turned a deep red. "How…dare…you…" His voice, completely devoid of emotion, was eleven times creepier than the fire and the mavericks. Time seemed to stand still, including their enemies. The boy transformed, into Megaman Model O. He spoke again, and this time his voice was trembling with rage._

"_I am going to obliterate you." A cyclone of red light surrounded him. Maria saw the green circles on her hands glowing. The boy had the same marks, and they were glowing too. He was drawing MuraMasa. And in the cyclone, hundreds of guns, cannon and handgun alike, were appearing. _

_Maria knelt next to the girl, and touched her neck. She could feel a faint pulse. Suddenly, she jerked into alertness, sitting bolt upright in Maria's arms. "Neo!" _

_Too late. Neo had thrown MuraMasa, and judging by the agonized scream of the maverick, it hadn't missed. The army was retreating, but Neo's now-red eyes flashed. "None of you are leaving this place alive." A hailstorm of plasma blasts tore the entire force apart._

_Maria eyes widened. _He has all my powers. He can use Model O. we…we really are twins, aren't we? _Neo turned around, his eyes still glowing red. The girl cried out again. "Neo! Neo, it's okay, I'm alright! NEO!" _

Maria jerked awake, breathless, and with cold sweat running down the back of her neck. That boy, he had part of Model O, he was going berserk, he said they were related, what was his name again? _Neo. _She got out of bed, and stared at herself in the mirror. She could practically see Neo in her reflection. He had seemed rather kind, yet shy and withdrawn, before that girl had gotten hit. Then, he threw himself into the Omega Spirit and became a wild, theirteen-year-old version of Omega Zero himself. _Was that just a dream, _Maria wondered, _Or do I really have a twin brother? _

_**/**_**Auther's note: Whoa. I had a crazy hard time knowing where to start this chapter. But now I'm ready to roll. Finally, Neo's IN! Friend or foe? Stick around to find out!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own Megaman ZX (but Neo and Maria are MINE!)**

Chapter 12: Neo Light

Maria was walking down the road when she heard Ashe calling her name. "Maria!"

"What is it?"

"There was another raid." Ashe replied.

"Really? Where? When?" Maria was alarmed. _My dream, could it be?_

"Laputa, the great city. Three weeks ago. Legion sent recovery ships as soon as communications were restored. We're going to pick up the one who ended the raid rather bloodily."

"One?" Maria echoed. "One person stopped it? Who is it?"

Ashe's expression was grave. "He's a boy your age. This is going to be hard to believe, but you need to hear this."

"What?" Maria felt the ground lurch behind her feet. _Uh oh…_

"He's a chosen one…the other Megaman Model O. Your long-lost twin…Neo Light. He just went berserk."

_Oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god…_Those three words repeated themselves over and over in Maria's mind as she ran/stumbled down to the ship that would take her to Laputa, and to her berserker twin.

**/Neo's P.O.V.**

A hospital bed, a strange dream, and the outside information of him going completely nuts. Neo Light was still trying to adjust to the idea of being a chosen one slash berserker. It was too immense, too mysterious. Neo couldn't remember what happened, at least not that clearly. It was almost like a dream, an out-of-body experience. It seemed that one moment he was walking his friend Kari back to her house, and the next he was handcuffed, tranquilized, and completely drenched in both fresh and dried blood, none of which was his.

Neo desperately recapped what had happened that day, trying to put the pieces together.

_Flashback: three weeks ago._

_Neo was sitting at his desk in his classroom, completely oblivious to his teacher's lecture on how ape evolved into man. In his desk, he was holding Model O, his partner since that day, the raid, the day he lost everything… _

No, Neo thought. I don't want to remember…the pictures rushed back anyway, the attack that changed his life forever.

_The raid, ten years ago:_

_Neo was running, for his life. It seemed to unreal that all other noise seemed to die away, all he could hear were his footsteps and his own terrified screams. Mavericks were everywhere. The rest of his family was dead. Neo was so scared, so numb. It's like in those dreams where you're being chased by monsters, you're trying to run but you're moving so slowly. He couldn't run fast enough. And his father was killed saving him, fighting the mavericks, fighting HER. The witch. Neo was sitting on the torn streets, amid the fire and carnage, staring blankly at the scene in front of him. Sorrow and rage filled him, yes, a powerful rage. When Model O was accidentally dropped by the retrieval maverick, Neo threw himself at it, swiped it out from below them, closing his hands around it and clutching it for dear life._

"_You…will give that…to us…" The witch's voice was soft and icy._

"_NEVER!" Neo howled that word to the heavens, holding the Biometal against his chest. "THERE IS NO WAY I'D HAND IT OVER TO SCUM LIKE YOU!" _

"_Fine…if you won't give it…I'll take it from you." As that she-devil prepared to attack, Model O spoke to him._

"_Neo."_

_Neo's eyes widened. "You can talk!"_

"_Neo, if you don't want to die, fuse with me! I can give you the strength you need to stop these mavericks, to kill that wench that took your family away. Do it, Neo! Shout megamerge, and we'll become one!"_

_Neo looked at the witch, and looked skyward. _I want the power…to avenge my family!_ "__**MEGAMERRRRRGE**__!" The last thing any maverick saw that day was a flash of crimson hurtling towards them, the terrible agony of being stabbed and slashed brutally, and then everything went black._

How did I do it? Neo still couldn't completely understand. After that incident, he was shuffled around by a group of Inner Peace adults given the duty of finding a proper home where he could recover from the trauma of the raids. He became very anti-social, and spent much of his time brooding on the meaning behind the raids. But nothing could have prepared him for what he became the other day, no amount of research on Model O, no amount of recovery time.

_/back to three weeks ago._

"_It was just bad luck, Neo, really, and I'm sorry it happened to you." Everyone was saying that to him. _

_They thought the raids were random, but Neo had other ideas. He was completely positive that someone was behind it, pulling the strings, causing all those deaths. He could remember very plainly seeing that witch maverick hovering over his father's decapitated body, taking his soul. The one thing Neo knew, even in the middle of his period of deep mourning, traveling from orphanage to foster home to here, it was that he himself had repelled the raid. It was he who had slaughtered that maverick when it appeared in the airship when he was on his way here. How he had done it, why he was so enraged, it escaped him. Why was being a chosen one so hard to comprehend? _

_If there was one thing that vexed Neo more than anything else, it was that no one else seemed to notice the danger. They were content to stay in this dangerous place, so close to increasingly high levels of maverick activity, because it was pleasant and in a fine environmental location. Lord, it was almost stupidity. Neo knew it wasn't nice to call people stupid, but the plain fact of the matter was that they were in danger and to stubborn to move. Neo could howl in frustration._

_Neo was so deep in thought that his teacher had to march over and yell to get his attention. _

"_NEO LIGHT, DO YOU HEAR ME?" Neo nearly toppled over backwards in surprise._

"_Y-y-y-yes sir?"_

_His teacher sighed. "Neo, I don't mind you going off in your little world on your own time, but you don't come to school to daydream! You're here to study!"_

"_Sorry sir." Neo ducked his head. _

"_Apology accepted, but you're going to have to make up for it." The man paused, thinking. "You'll be staying here to clean up the classroom after school, got it? You need a partner…" He looked around. "…for a change of pace…Kari!"_

_The cute black-haired girl at the other end of the class jumped. "Y-yes sir!" _

"_You're mine after school, miss!"_

_Neo sighed in relief. He didn't mind having Kari around, and it was better than having to stay with some of the other kids who will remain nameless for the moment. After washing the board and beating the brushes, he offered to walk her home. _

_Kari turned red in the face. "Thanks, Neo-kun!" She was cute when she was embarrassed, that was for sure. _

_They were headed down the streets when there was a crashing noise coming from down the road. The sounds of fire igniting and people screaming broke the silence, and soon fire appeared over the buildings. Peace was shattered._

"_Neo? What happening?" Kari was trembling. Neo froze cold. He knew this…his greatest nightmare was becoming reality…again. _

"_Kari?"_

"_Yes? What do we do?"_

"_Run like our lives depends on it." Neo replied, watching the red-eyes machines appear over the overturned cars. "Because most likely…" The machines took aim. "…they do." Neo and Kari took off-just in time for the ground where they had been standing milliseconds before exploded._

_As hell ignited around them, with people screaming and dying, confusion was in the air. Neo's mind was in chaos, all other sound was drowned out. When the reached the end of the road, that's when it happened. The witch appeared in his life for the second time, and unleashed her ice daggers._

_As if in slow motion, one of them struck Kari and she collapsed. Neo fell to his knees next to her. Her stomach was slashed and she was bleeding. _It can't be. She can't be dead, she can't be…no…Kari…

"_What a shame…" The witch was speaking. "Another worthless human…dead…"_

_That's when __**it **__happened. Seeing Kari injured, possibly dying, hearing that…__**bitch**__…call her worthless…something inside Neo snapped. He put Kari down, and stood up. Silence filled the city, all nearby eyes on him._

"…_Unforgivable…" His voice was completely devoid of emotion, absolutely flat, and that only made him sound ten times more terrifying. His fist clenched. He transformed, took out his saber, and looked up. The infinite fury in his eyes froze anyone who had the courage to face him. In an instant, he lashed out, slaughtering all mavericks close to him and then he ran forward, jamming his sword into that witch's shoulder. _

_Neo's eyes were now a deep shade of crimson red. "HOW DARE YOU KILL MY ONLY FRIEND! She was no fighter, she was no threat, you killed her, you fu***ing bastard, you stupid, warped, twisted, clueless bitch, you go around killing people for a 'new world', Kari isn't the worthless one, you are, and I'm going to send you to __**HELL!" **__Neo reared back and viciously slashed across her body, leaving a burning red scar. His saber dripped with blood._

"_**PREPARE TO DIE!"**_

The rest was a blur. Neo could only remember seeing the bodies of brutally slaughtered mavericks lying around him, having someone put restraint locks on him, inject him with a tranquilizer, and seeing his hands completely covered in blood.

Neo looked around his room, taking on its features. Someone had taken the purple limiters off his wrists and he could sit up. To his left sat a glass of water, a piece of bread, and a tranquilizer gun. No prizes for guessing why **that **was there. Whoever was still in charge of Laputa was obviously paranoid at the idea of him going berserk again, which wasn't really fair, he had only killed mavericks, as far as he knew he hadn't so much has laid a hand on any of raid victims, much less attack them. To his right…it was Kari, lying on another bed, hooked up to several life support machines.

"Kari?" Neo called weakly. She didn't reply, _she must still be unconscious._ The nurse walked in and dropped her plate.

"Neo! You're awake!"

"Yeah. I'm fine." Neo swung his head back over to Kari. "Kari, is Kari alright?"

"Well, I have good news and I have bad news." The nurse replied quietly, but not before fearfully pulling Model O out of his reach. "The good news is that she is going to survive. The bad news is I don't know if she'll thank me for it."

"Why would she want to be dead?" Neo demanded, both relieved and dismayed. Relieved that Kari wasn't dead, but dismayed at the idea that she might not want to survive.

"We're…she's going to need a heart transplant." Neo whipped around and stared openly at the nurse, horrified. "It's going to be very dangerous and there is the chance that something might go wrong, and she might die or go into a worse condition in the process." Greatly fearing the boy may vent his rage and terror on her, she added quickly "I'm sorry Neo, I'm doing everything in my power, I-"

"It's okay, Cinny." A soft voice came from the hall. Both nurse and patient looked up as two girls came into the room. "If anyone could save Kari, you can." The first one said quietly.

Neo got his second shock in the last few seconds. One of the girls was Ashe, Megaman Model A. The other one was his twin sister, the girl from his dream.

"Maria?"

"Neo? Is that really you?"

"Yeah." Neo gazed at his twin. She looked exactly like she did in his dream, his mirror image. "I had a dream last night. You were in it."

"So did I." Maria said softly. She brushed his hair out of his eyes. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay, I guess." Neo glanced over at Kari. "I wish I could say the same for her…"

"I understand…" Maria said, sitting on the side of his bed. She didn't say anything, she just sat there and provided a hand for Neo to hold/crush.

"What am I supposed to do now?" Neo asked aloud, to no one in particular. "I'm a monster. No one wants me around. Where should I go? What should I do?"

"You could stay with me!" Maria said at once, brightening.

Neo blinked and looked at her. "Really?"

"We came to get you! Let's go to the hunter's camp."

"I don't know…" Neo glanced at Kari again.

"I'll let you know if her condition improves." Cinny promised. Neo nodded in gratitude.

"Thank you." He smiled at his sister. "Let's go…"

**/Author's note: Wow, I had a real fun time with this chapter. Hope you guys like it. Anyway...REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW and I'll see you in chapter 13**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own Megaman ZX (but I do own Neo and Maria)**

Chapter 13

**/Prometheus's P.O.V.**

Prometheus watched from a distance, eyes narrowed in anger. So that was him. Neo Light. His sister's killer. Hatred for that boy ran deep inside him. Sure, he was a sadist who fought for Cyrus and Model W, but that was because he had no choice. He might seem to be devoid of positive emotions, but he cared deeply for his sister. Prometheus hated Neo with a deep, fiery passion. He wanted revenge. He wanted Neo to know the pain he had inflicted on Pandora and himself.

The grim reaper glanced over at Grey. "Hey! Grey!"

The boy jumped. "What is it, Prometheus?" Never bro, Prometheus insisted on not being called that. He didn't want to get close to Grey. It would just put him on the track for another heartbreak. He didn't want to suffer like that again.

"I need you to assemble a small fleet and send them to attack a Legion database. Download whatever's there, to give the mission a higher priority. Then they'll send Megaman Model O to stop you. Lead him to me."

"But that's so dangerous!" Grey protested. "You've seen what Neo can do! Fighting them is just so dangerous, it's like playing with a nuclear reactor!"

"I know." Prometheus said, his voice flat. "I'm still going to do this. You can help me or not."

Grey's eyes shimmered with restrained tears. _What's up with that? Albert wouldn't create a reploid with emotions like that! _"Okay. I'll help. But…please promise me one thing…"

Prometheus almost said no, but the expression on Grey's face…well…if being a megaman didn't work out, he always had acting as a fallback… "What is it…?"

"Please, if it gets too dangerous…if Neo starts to lose it…promise me you're run away…I don't want to lose you…no one else here understands me like you…you're like a brother to me…"

Prometheus squeezed his eyes tightly shut. _Brother. _"Fine. I promise" _God, this boy is making me soft like hell…_

**/Maria's P.O.V.**

Maria put her arms around Neo's shoulders. Her brother was sitting in silence at the riverside, staring blankly at the rushing water. It was one of those moments. He didn't speak or move or anything. In the worst cases, he would scream. The other hunters in camp were sympathetic, acknowledging he had suffered great mental trauma, but it would take a while to adjust to hearing his unearthly cries at random intervals, which would hopefully get less frequent when he started to recover. Maria stayed with him all the time, and he seemed to enjoy her company.

"Maria! I need to borrow you for a second!" Maria glanced over her shoulder. Ashe was signaling for her to come over. She paused and glanced at her brother.

"I'll be right back." Neo muttered an agreement and didn't look up. Maria let go and ran over to join Ashe.

"What is it?"

"Maverick attack. Someone's hacking into Legion's database. Their target is data on Model W."

"Is Neo coming with us?"

"Absolutely not. Prometheus is with them. How do you think Neo will react to meeting the brother of the maverick who put his friend in such great danger?" Maria didn't answer, so Ashe went on. "No, we better go without him."

"I can't leave Neo here by himself." Maria protested. "He can't interact with anyone else, and what if he wanders off?"

"Maria-"

"It's okay." A new voice interrupted. Maria turned around. Vent glanced over at Neo and then back at her and Ashe. "You stay here, Maria. I'll go."

Maria let out her breath. "Thanks Vent." She hugged him. "Be careful, okay?"

"Of course." Ashe and Vent vanished into the transerver, and Neo looked up at Maria. The pupils were back in his eyes.

"Who's…who's Prometheus, Maria?" Maria considered finding a way to avoid the question, but Neo's eyes probed her and she knew that he wanted an answer, and he intended to get it, however possible. Even if she didn't tell him outright, he'd hunt the information down in whatever database he could get into. So she decided to simply pick her words carefully.

"Well…do you remember the witch maverick from before?" Neo's eyes hardened.

"I'll never forget…"

"Well…Prometheus is her brother." Maria said slowly. Neo jumped.

"Wait…her brother…" Neo's eyes flickered red to blue to red, and then back to blue and stayed there. He was more worried than angry, and Maria found that confusing. What would he be worried about?

**/Neo's P.O.V.**

_It's a diversion. It's gotta be. Prometheus must have known they'd send sis for a mission where he was involved with the attack because she's so powerful. He must have figured that she'd bring me with her! _Neo thought, his mind whirling furiously. _It's for me. And if Ashe and Vent went to stop the attack, they're walking straight into a trap!_

"Maria, I've got to go after them."

"Why?" Neo didn't answer, he just transformed and headed for the transerver. Maria stood up, shaking her head.

"I don't like the vibes I'm getting from him…MEGAMERGE!" She chased after her twin.

_Great. She's following me…_ Neo cursed silently. He didn't want her to come with him. He didn't want to see her get hurt, cut open like Kari. _I'm not going to put her in danger…I just lose her in the Legion building. Yeah. That's what I'll do…then she'll be safe, for now…I won't let what happened to Kari happen to her… _

Inside the Legion building, Maria headed for the main vein of mavericks, but Neo scanned the forces, picking out a boy with grey hair and a biometal in one hand. Neo swerved and confronted him.

"Neo Light?" The boy's voice was quiet, and he searched Neo's eyes for any trance of crimson light. They were natural blue, for now anyway. But what if…Grey closed his eyes tightly. No, he wasn't going to think about Neo going berserk. He wouldn't let that happen. He'd find some way to keep him calm.

"Where's Prometheus?"

"Are you going to kill him?" Neo blinked at the blunt question. The boy's eyes hardened. "If you intend to, I will fight you until my body cannot move another step."

For several long moments, there was silence. Suddenly Neo broke it. "I won't kill either of you. I won't."

Grey blinked in confusion, and opened his mouth, but Neo rounded on him, eyes flashing red. "I am not like you and that grim reaper. I don't kill unless I have to. **I AM NOT A MAVERICK!"** The last sentence was screamed, almost like he was trying to convince himself as well as Grey. There was a heavy silence. Then Neo roughly pushed past the silent megaman and ran up the stairs behind him.

_I AM NOT A MAVERICK! _Neo's words rang in Grey's ears. _And I am? A killer? A maverick? _Grey shut his eyes, a fresh set of tears rolling down them. No, no, no, I don't want it… _I don't want to be a killer, Neo…I don't want to be a maverick either…Neo…you'll believe me, right? _The grey-haired boy stood in silence, trying not to cry out loud.

Neo could only hear his own footsteps and Grey's voice. Pity. _Damn him for making me feel like this. _Neo thought through angry tears. _Why? Why? Why did he have to make me feel this way? WHY? I don't want to be weak again…damn you Grey. _But there was little bite in that thought. Why did he feel that twinge he had only felt around Maria when he had looked that boy in the eye? Why? What was it about him that made him decide not to fight Prometheus until the end? What was it that made him decide to fight this fight as himself, rather than simply giving control to Omega Zero? Why? Neo burst through the door leading to the roof. There were two figures on the roof. One of them was one of his sister's friends, was it Vent? Neo couldn't remember. He lay unmoving. Neo approached him and checked his pulse. It was steady, so Neo deemed he was unconscious. The other one was Prometheus.

"I've been expecting you."

**/Maria's P.O.V.**

"There were fewer of these guys than I thought there'd be." Maria remarked, straightening up. The attack had less force than the other ones she had fought in, which was odd, considering the priority level of the mission.

"Where's Vent?" Maria asked Ashe, turning around.

"He went to the roof. Prometheus was up there."

"Prometheus…shouldn't he be back by now? What's going on up there?"

"I don't know. I'm not getting through to him." Ashe looked around. "By the way, where's Neo? Didn't he come with you?"

Maria looked around, alarmed. Sure enough, Neo was no where to be seen. "We need to get to the roof. Now."

**/Neo's P.O.V.**

"You asked for me?" Neo said, stepping away from Vent and towards Prometheus. "What do you want?"

"Annihilation." Prometheus replied calmly and coldly. "The death of my sister's killer."

"Didn't Cyrus say he could resurrect her? She isn't really dead." Neo countered. "I don't kill unless I must."

"Right, like I'm going to believe that." Prometheus snorted.

"…" Neo didn't reply. He just looked at Prometheus with an emotionless expression on his face.

"Whether Cyrus can save her or not is not the point." The grim reaper went on. "It's the pain you inflicted."

"Pain." Neo repeated. He lifted his head, while his expression remained emotionless. "Then you get it."

"Get what?" Prometheus demanded, glaring at him.

"Then you knew from the start how raid survivors like me felt about you and you sister. You're covered in the blood of innocent people. If you hurt people, they'll hurt you back. It's no big mystery." Neo's face was still calm and blank.

_If you hurt people, they'll hurt you back. _Prometheus shut his eyes.

"You love your sister," Neo went on, "so you can't be that different from me. You'd give everything to protect your sister, and I'd do the same thing for Maria and Kari. Vent too." He nodded to the unconscious megaman, "has people he'd die to protect. So my question is this." He looked back at Prometheus. "Why were you fighting for Model W in the first place?"

Prometheus gritted his teeth. _Great. How am I going to talk my way out of this?_

**/Author's note: ….Okay, so maybe Prometheus isn't as heartless as we were lead to believe. REVIEW! I NEED REVIEWS TO CONTIUE! IF I DO NOT GET AT LEAST TWO REVIEWS I CANNOT CONTIUE!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Thank you! It's good to know people like my story. ^.^ So here's the next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: You know the drill by now.**

Chapter 14

**/Maria's P.O.V.**

Maria threw the door to the roof open. After she had FINALLY gotten past the mechadoloid guard, Prometheus had left, and Grey, Vent and Neo were all demerged and Neo was looking rather pleased.

"NEO!" Her brother turned around. Maria walked up and gave him an icy look. "What. Happened. Here?"

"I met up with Prometheus." Neo replied casually. "He mentioned his sister, and we had an extremely extensive conversation on Moral values, Redemption, Model W, Albert and Cyrus's ambitions, the maverick raids, and his sister's life, which hangs on his service to Model W. I suggested that he might become a double agent, and he said he'd give it some thought. A lot of thought, actually. After all, this involves the lives of people all over the world, and Pandora, and himself for that matter, so Prometheus told me he'd give me an answer if I gave him some time to think everything over. And Grey here hung around and was insisting that I try my supposed powers of 'memory reading' on him, while ignoring all of Vent's 'you're such a child' comments."

Maria and Ashe both stared at him. Their expressions must have been priceless, because Neo, Vent AND Grey burst out laughing. "Do you two know what you look like?" Neo asked, clutching his gut and giggling uncontrollably. "You look like a pair of cows that got hit by a jackhammer."

Ashe shook her head wildly. "You know, Maria, ever since you and your brother became megamen, things have gotten weirder and weirder."

"I noticed." Maria replied weakly. After securing the area, the group of friends headed back to Hunter's camp, while Grey doubled back to meet up with Prometheus.

**/At hunter's camp, three days later**

"I'm bored, sis." Neo complained. He was sitting on the couch tossing Model O up and down and looking up at her. "I'm tired of training and there's nothing on TV. Can't we go somewhere for once?"

"You feel up to that?" Maria leaned over and glanced at him.

"Of course I do! Aren't you bored?"

"YES!" Maria exclaimed, startling her twin. "I want to do something too, but I didn't know if you wanted to go anywhere! You were pretty moody lately! But if you were bored, you should've told me!" She pulled Neo to his feet and ran out the door. "Where should we go?"

"I dunno…" They stood in silence for a few long moments.

"How about…somewhere no one's gone before?" Neo suggested, eyes brightening suddenly.

"That sounds like a great idea, but where would we go?" Maria asked, hyped up at the prospect of adventure.

"Past area A99." Neo replied, after thinking it over. "There's a network of caves there, and no one's gotten through them before."

"Why not?"

"It's rumored the place is protected by a mutant." Neo answered. "No one's sure because so far, none of the adventurers have come back yet."

"You're sure this is a safe thing to do?" Maria asked dubiously at the mention of the mutant.

Neo smirked. "Come on, sis. We've taken out armies of mavericks and you're worried about a mutant animal?"

"Good point." Maria smiled. "Let's go!" They ran out the gate and to the transerver.

**/Area A99**

Maria and Neo touched down by an old radio tower and looked around.

"This place is so barren…" Maria remarked. The ground was covered in frost and soaked by acid rain. There were caters everywhere.

"It's an war zone from the Elf Wars." Neo said, glancing over his shoulder like he was expecting the ghosts of the dead soldiers to appear behind them. "That's probably why. The land was so devastated it isn't fit for farming, much less anything else."

"I see…" Maria idly wondered if Omega had been in this battle, and then shook the thought away. This wasn't the time to dwell on the blood-crazed spirit she had to channel. She was on an adventure. To boldly go where no one has gone before! Maria had always wanted to do that.

"Come on. The tunnels are this way." Neo signaled towards a cave at appeared to be in the centre of the field. Maria paused, and then followed him in and downwards.

**/Area unknown**

Dark, dusty, damp, and you can barely see where you're putting your feet. Right. Like Maria had been expecting anything less.

"I don't see any mutant." Neo announced, sticking his head down one of the tunnels.

"That's nice." Maria muttered. "I HATE mutants. What kind of idiot came up with mutation anyway?"

"Doctor J. Psychotic Moron." Neo replied dryly, implying that he felt the same way. They started walking. Maria dug the edge of her blade into the wall so they'd know how to get back. There was silence, except for dripping water, her blade marking the wall, and the sound of their footsteps.

**/Later**

"Do all secret underground tunnels go on seemingly forever?" Maria asked after they had been walking for what seemed like an hour.

Neo stopped. "Do you see that?"

"Huh? I can barely see anything down here-" Maria stopped. A dim light was coming from the end of the tunnel.

"Over there." Neo said adamantly. They rushed forward. Reaching the end of the tunnels, they stepped into a room lit by blue crystals that seemed to be on fire. In the middle of the room sat a fairly large computer.

"Wow. A computer?" Neo didn't reply, but he sat down on the chair and turned it on. "What is it?" Maria pressed, putting her arms around his neck. Neo flinched under the touch but didn't push her away. He hadn't liked being touched after he had returned from Laputa. Maria gave him space, but she insisted on giving him a hug once and a while, in another effort to nurse her brother back to normal.

"It's got some kind of data file on it." Neo replied absently. "…It's dated back 200 years…written by Doctor Ceil-"

"Ciel?" Maria's Model O demanded, while Neo's half let out a startled yelping noise. That half of Model O seemed to have a personality that leaned more towards animal than human, which Maria found really creepy. It didn't speak; it growled, hissed, or yelped. She didn't think she'd ever get used to it. But that wasn't important now.

"What's up, Model O?"

"God Maria, how could you not know? Doctor Ceil is the one who gave me this form and CREATED the other biometals!"

"WHAT?" Neo turned back to the screen, his eyes flicking over the jumbled assortment of data. "I can't make heads or tails out of this." He said in frustration.

"Maybe one of the Legion operators could." Maria suggested, pulling a memory stick out of her pocket. "Let's download it and bring it back." Neo nodded, and Maria quickly copied everything in the computer's database onto her stick. She thrust it into her pocket and looked around.

There was the way back, but another tunnel lead further downwards. And judging by Neo's expression, he wasn't done looking around yet. "Maybe there's more to find down here that way." He said.

"Maybe…but Neo…I feel like we're being watched…" It was true. Maria's sixth sense was driving her crazy. The twitches and stiffness in Neo's joints got more intense, he could feel it too.

"Keep your saber out." He said, his voice rock steady. "And don't relax your guard." He gripped Maria's hand tightly. Maria wanted to say that she could take care of herself, but bit her tongue when she saw Neo's worried expression. He was rather overprotective of her, refusing to let her go out on a mission without him, and Maria had a sneaking suspicion she knew why.

Neo claimed he felt no fear, but he was terrified by the thought of losing her. And terror can easily turn to anger, towards anyone at that, and Maria didn't want that animal-like, pitiless, blood-hungry version of Neo to take over again. She played along to keep him calm. Slowly they stepped into the next tunnel.

**/Later**

Just walking down the lightless tunnels was bad enough. But walking down lightless tunnels and feeling like something big, dangerous, and possibly hungry was watching you was much, much worse. Maria's muscles were tensed as she scratched the wall with her blade. Her breathing seemed louder than normal.

"God, the feeling is so heavy I can barely breath." She murmured, needing to break the silence. Neo nodded in silent agreement. He stepped into a fairly large cavern. Once again, the blue crystals seemed to be on fire and lay littered on the floor. This time, there was no computer. Just a badly damaged hologram projector.

Neo looked like he was about to say something, but his eyes widened. "Hit the deck!" A black blur flew over their heads and landed in the middle of the room. Maria looked up and gasped. It was a giant creature with the head of a goat, the body of a lion, and a three-headed snake for a tail.

"Well, we were wondering what was hungry." Neo said darkly. "Now we know."

The mutant snarled and then hurtled towards them.

**/Author's Note: Killed you all with the cliffy, huh? Until next time! And REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! THE BLUE BUTTON! PRESS IT! **


	15. Chapter 15

Megaman ZX Omega chapter 15

**Me: Hi peoples! I'm back!**

**Maria: WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?**

**Me: Sorry, sorry! My computer was being a jackass. Now my father's saying there's something wrong with its motherboard. Isn't that great?**

**Maria: Jeez, you sure chose a cheap computer. Not even a year and it's malfunctioning?**

**Me: I know, I know, it was only $300 and freezing-prone. Not important now. Maria? Disclaimer please!**

**Maria: BladeofMoonlight does not own Megaman ZX or Model O, because if she did, this would be a real anime.**

Chapter 15:

Maria dropped to the floor as a snake head missed her by exactly two inches and smashed into the wall behind her.

"A Chimera." She muttered. Legendary creature, is made up of three creatures, yeah yeah yeah. Ahead of her, Neo preformed an ariel attack by flipping over the chimera and landing on the head in the middle.

"Be a good boy/mutant and die please." The o saber appeared in his hand and he dug it into the chimera's middle. It screeched and bucked wildly. One of the snakes, in it's blind fury, bit Maria. Hard.

"Hey!" Maria twisted around and jammed her saber directly up the snake's throat. Blood flowed out everywhere. Maria put a hand on her shoulder, along the bite marks.

"I hate snakes." Suddenly, the chimera fell over, and blood swamped the floor.

Neo stood up and stepped off the chimera's middle, which had a very sizable gash on it. "That thing was weak." He muttered. "I've had tougher fights..."

"Yeah, me too..." Her head was throbbing. Maria put a hand on her forehead.

"What's wrong?" Neo walked over and gave her a concerned look.

"Nothing. Just a bit of a headache." Maria said, putting on a smile. Neo gave her a searching glance, and then shook his head.

"Come on, we should get to the surface." He headed back through the tunnels, Maria trailing slowly behind him.

**/That night**

Maria flopped down on her bed, putting a hand on her head. The throbbing was getting worse. It was like a paralysingly pain that made it hard to think clearly. "Oww..." It took a long time for her to fall asleep.

_/Dream_

_Maria blinked several times. Her body was so heavy she could barely move. Her head swam, and her vision was blurry._

"_So, the Chimera's poison is taking effect..." A voice floated through the air. Stiffly, Maria raised her head to see two shadowy figures in the darkness._

"_Foolish girl. She should have gotten checked for bugs directly after she got outside. Typical Omega Zero, thinking he's invincible." Another voice, much older, snorted._

"_Perhaps if he had used his head along with his brawn, he could have beaten the Red Knight." The first voice agreed. "But he didn't. Too much power can lead to overconfidence, which can, in turn, lead to this." There was a pause. "What about Model O's natural regeneration program?"_

"_That can only heal flesh wounds. Sickness needs a doctor. IF they have the medicine they need to save her." The second voice crackled. _

_Poison...? What's happened to me...?_

**/Neo's P.O.V.**

Neo paced outside Maria's room. It was eleven in the morning and she still wasn't up. Talk about out of character. Usually he was the one who needed to be dragged out of bed. "That does it. Sis?" He forced the door open. Maria was sprawled on her bed, groaning.

"Come on Maria, get up!" Neo sat down next to her. Maria rolled over, letting out a wail of pain. _Something's wrong. _"Maria? Can you talk to me?" His twin didn't reply, she just continued to thrash in pain.

Neo grabbed the phone. _We need a doctor!_

**/Later**

"What's wrong with her?" Neo demanded finally, an hour after he got Maria to the hospital.

"Poison." The doctor replied.

"Poison?" Neo's mind clicked and flashed back to when the Chimera's snake tail had bitten her. "Isn't there some way to dillute it?"

"Only the Chimera's master has the cure." The doctor answered. "All I can do is delay the effects. You must find it in the space of the next week, or your sister will die."

**/Outside**

Neo appeared in one of the outer areas, stressed out. A week. He had a week to locate Cyrus's base (he THINKS he knows where it is) break into it (he has no idea how) get the cure and get back, or the poison will kill Maria.

The idea itself almost drove Neo into madness. Losing Maria-his only living family member, the only person who really loved him-was petrifying. He couldn't lose her. Not her too. If he failed again...

He wasn't even going to THINK that.

"Is that you, Neo?"

Neo blinked. He turned around and saw Grey bound out of the side door and run over to him. "I haven't seen you in _ages!_" That was SO Grey. He was so naive and innocent and friendly Neo honesty wondered if Cyrus was actually the one behind his birth.

"What's wrong?" Grey searched Neo's face. He knew something was up when Neo didn't return his greeting.

"It's my sister..."

"What about her?"

"She's been poisoned. By Cyrus's Chimera." Grey's eyes widened. "I've got a week before it kills her. Cyrus has the only antidote. I need it now, please! Help me."

Grey took in Neo's desperate features and didn't give it a second thought. "Sure. Follow me."

**End chapter 15**

**Me: Well, that was rather short.**

**Maria: You actually poisoned me!**

**Me: Well, you can't be totally invincible.**

**Maria: I damn well better be fine very soon! FOR YOUR SAKE!**

**Me: ! MARIA, PLEASE DON'T HURT MEEEEEE!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Megaman ZX Omega**

**Me: Hi readers!**

**Maria & Neo: What the hell?**

**Me: I know, I know, but it feels wrong to leave my very first story unfinished! So I'm picking up where I left off!**

**Neo: (grumbling) took her long enough to figure that out.**

**Me: Hey! Neo, get back here!**

**Disclaimer: Do I have to say it again?**

**Chapter 16**

Kari sat up, her mind in a daze. Her chest hurt. _Ow…what happened to me? _She remembered seeing the witch maverick in front of her…then there was nothing. Why wasn't she dead? Should she be dead?

Neo. Where was Neo? Kari looked around, but she didn't see him although she could have sworn he had been on the stretcher next to her. Was he okay? _I hope he didn't get hurt. _

Kari tugged at the wires patched onto her body. She felt a lot better than she had in a while, but she was sick of being wrapped up in these things. _Reason number one I hate hospitals. _The raven-haired girl thought with a huff. _My transplant is done and I feel better. Surely they won't mind if I go walk around the block once._

Gently tugging off the patches, Kari freed herself from the machines and stepped out the door. The first thing she noticed was the halls were strangely quiet, and the lights were off. Now how weird was that? Usually Cinny was here to tell her off for leaving her sickbed. Where was she?

Rebelliousness replaced by curiosity, Kari walked down the halls. "Hello? Where is everyone?" She called. The lights flickered. A scuttling noise broke the silence. Kari looked over her shoulder.

Nothing.

"Okay…this is kind of scary…" She mumbled. Was this some kind of Halloween joke?

"This isn't funny!" She called. No response came. A shiver ran down the petite girl's spine. "This really isn't funny…" Kari said, mostly to herself.

She reached the stairs at the end of the hall and pushed the door open. The lights were fully on downstairs, and she could hear muffled voices. "…granger. Where is she?"

"I-cough-can't tell you."

Kari jerked back a step. Granger. That was her last name!

Anyone with common sense would have turned and left, but Kari headed further down the stairs, closer to the voices. "You try my patience…"

The resceptionist said nothing this time. He just coughed.

Kari walked closer still and pushed the door open a crack. Some red-haired guy was holding the secretary by the neck. He was wearing weird armor, and little wing-bits floated in the air around him.

CRACK. The man loosened his grip, and the other fell to the ground dead. Kari froze. The killer turned his head and looked at her. A slasher's smirk appeared on his face.

"There you are, little girl."

Kari screamed, stumbling away and running for the stairs. The shadows in front of her rippled, and suddenly someone grabbed her from behind.

Siarnaq put a hand over his captive's mouth and knocked her unconscious. Cyrus's smile widened as his pawn appeared from the stairs. "YOU SAY THE GIRL IS IMPORTANT. QUERY…WHY?" The shadow megaman questioned.

Cyrus tapped a few buttons on his gauntlet. "A broken child is easily manipulated." He replied smugly. "In fact…he's walking into my hands as we speak."

**With Neo and Grey**

"Where does he keep it?" Neo demanded. They had gone up and down the rat maze that Cyrus called a base, and they were yet to come across the antidote. Time was ticking away as he spoke.

Neo hated this feeling. The feeling of helplessness. He had all this power and yet he was struggling to save his sister.

Cyrus would suffer for this one.

"I'm not sure." Grey admitted. "He's paranoid. If it isn't in the safes we just checked, it's probably in his desk."

"Which is where?"

"This way." Grey led him back the way they came and down another hall. They had just reached the door to the Model W room when a loud screech halted them in their tracks.

Mechadoliods appeared in the hall behind them.

Grey groaned. "We tripped the alarms." He turned toward Neo. "Go ahead, I'll deal with this."

"But-"

"You said yourself, every second is precious! GO!"

Neo turned and headed inside. He got halfway across the room and froze.

_No. This can't be…_

Kari was lying awkwardly on the floor, coughing blood. A series of kuni were buried in her side. "Neo…don't come…trap…" She managed weakly.

The doors swung shut behind him.

"Humans are truly pathetic…" A voice said. Cyrus walked out of the shadows, arms crossed, to stand right behind Kari. "I figured that you, the feral Model O, would be less soft."

"You-!" Neo's voice shook. He was speechless with rage at this point.

"You walked right into a trap without thinking twice about it, and why? Your sister is dying. Feh. A true megaman would focus on destroying the enemy in front of him, not waste his time dealing with liabilities like this." Cyrus looked down at Kari as if she were some sort of disease.

"You call my only family a liability?" Neo spat out the words, his voice gone flat. "You call the only non-family member ever to care about me a _**liability**__?_"

"Less than that." Cyrus snorted. "She's a _powerless _being. A stain on the earth, dragging everyone down with her weakness." Kari coughed again, as if to punctuate his words. "This is why humans don't deserve their land. They can't take care of themselves. They always needed reploids to save them from their own problems, and thanked them by declaring them maverick. How did such a weak, spineless race survive for this long? They should have been eliminated by Omega in the Elf Wars! They have ONLY survived because other, greater people have held them up! People like _this_," He made a disgusted gesture at Kari, who continued to loose blood as he spoke, "and those goodie-two-shoes chosen ones are the only reason humanity lives."

"YOU have the strength to purify this world, rid it of the filth that eats away at it." He gestured to Neo. "Your sister is weak, but you are not. I've _seen _you at work, you unstable young man. Come to me, like your predecessor came to my master, and destroy the stains that ruin this beautiful earth."

The mere _idea _that this man _dared _try to recruit him made Neo's vision go bleed red.

Cyrus had been expecting an answer, but the one he received wasn't the one he desired.

The howl shook the earth, the wordless cry of rage echoing through the land around it.

It was painful, but at the same time he was running on some sort of weird high. The madness was back, but…it was channeled. It was directed, rather than scatter bomb random. Everything was forgotten but the rage, and the unadulterated need to destroy the being in front of it in the most horrible way he could devise. For once…the God of Destruction had _purpose, _its own hateful direction. The boy had finally been pushed too far, too times had the people he cared about suffered, taken blows for him.

The tame one, the kind one, was incapacitated, near death. That sweet smile was disappearing, the heartbeat that kept him anchored in sanity was fading away into nothingness. His grip was loosening, the black water of insanity below him raging invitingly. She was all he wanted. All he needed. They BOTH were, and they were both threatened, threatened by the same person. Anyone with half a brain would have known to step aside and let the girls survive, but no. Not only had he harmed them, but he had bragged about it, arrogance and self-assurance _dripping _off every word, as if it hadn't occurred to him that the being in front of him could slaughter him in an instant.

The BUG had forgotten his place in the presence of the Shadow of Death, figuring he could control him the same way his master had, by stripping away the layers of humanity that his loved ones had given him, by eliminating them.

The same way he had destroyed the first, to get the fabled Crimson Demon to obey his orders without question. His lips curled back into a snarl that would have made Lucifer tremble, revealing fearsome fangs, at the memory Model O had given him.

Her laugh, her eyes, they seemed so real to him even through a half-forgotten memory. And then she was gone, shrapnel buried in her chest, lying on the floor. Just like from his dreams, only in a bitter reality.

He could destroy anything in his way, and the man knew that. The blood roaring through his veins, he gave the man in front of him a look that would made a devil cower, all the hatred he had ever felt directed at the person in front of him. The person who had taken a single step back, as if realizing his mistake, his final mistake.

Was this all the great Model W do? Force others to do its bidding by destroying their lifelines, the ones who held their hearts, tearing away the walls that protected them? Obliterate their minds and hearts, leaving only the easily-manipulated husk behind?

How dare he…if he were to take away the people he loved so dearly, he must WANT to die. Suicide by the new Omega. That was the only explanation for such idiotic behavior, for such arrogance in thinking that this crime would go unpunished, that he would simply comply after everything he knew was destroyed.

Kari's eyes fluttered open again, trying to find him. "N…eo…" Her breathing was getting weaker. "I'm…so…rry… … …I couldn't… …stay….too…dark…" That face, one of the only things he'd ever loved, grew dark as her consciousness slipped away from blood loss.

Kari was apologizing? She had done no wrong! She had harmed no one! She had done anything to merit the suffering she had to endure!

Because of HIM!

He howled again, a dystopian, animalistic sound he hadn't realized he could make as a human being. The pain was gone, replaced by white-hot fury. His only link to the kind world lay on the floor, her life draining away as he stood there, helpless…

The saber appeared in his hand once again, although he would have just as happily used his bare hands. The crystals on his armor were glowing, the sign of Omega alight. Neo's eyes opened, revealing black eyes with red irises.

The attempt to break his will had resulted in something far worse.

"You have to understand, Neo, I had no other choice!" Cyrus began, but a low barking laugh from said chosen one broke into his pleading.

"I know the drill, what you want me to do." Neo snarled, dark light burning in his eyes. "I'm supposed to go on a roaring rampage of revenge, right, to benefit you and Model _**W**_." He spat the syllable out. "Well, fine. I'll roar." His blade glowed red. "I'll rampage." His claws dug into his armor, so tight did they hold his buster gun. His voice had a double echo to it, and anyone who knew whom the other belonged to rightly trembled in terror. "But I'LL be the one to get the bloody satisfaction, Cyrus!"

With one last inhuman cry, Neo Omega lunged forward, blood-hungry.

Dark red blood splashed against the floor. The coward had called reinforcements. Huh, let's see how long THAT lasts. It was beyond the usual damage he caused…almost like his hatred had been narrowed into a beam, aimed in a single direction. His eyes were locked onto his prize, who had fled into another room.

Neo looked around him, rage boiling at the sight of the mavericks surrounding him. How dare these pathetic beings get in his way! Beings with no backbone, mere PUPPETS!

"Get the hell out of my way!" He spoke in a voice not of his own. He threw his saber up in the air, jumped and kicked in down into the earth. The resulting shockwave tore through the cannon fodder in his path, eliminating it in one well-placed blow.

This is what Albert had always intended for a Megaman to be-merciless and in total control of the battlefield. He probably hadn't imagined that the only one to reach that point would be against him.

Neo didn't care at this point. He only cared about his target.

Smashing the door into splinters, he saw Cyrus disappear into the transerver. He flipped the desk over, causing papers to spill everywhere. A vial clinked onto the floor next to it.

In his rage, Neo realized that it was the antidote he had been searching for.

"Neo?" Unthinking, Neo sent it spinning across the floor in the direction of Grey's voice and took off after his target.

Grey stared blankly in the direction Neo had disappeared. "he's gone crazy!" He exclaimed. He tried to decide what to do. He could tell from that murderous rampage that Neo could handle himself. Plus, he was more likely to calm down if Maria and Kari weren't dead…

"Let's hope all hell doesn't break loose before then!" Grey mumbled fervently, grabbing the vial and Kari. He transported away.

He didn't hang around long enough to noticed that the Model W's did the same a few moments later.

**End Chapter**

**Oh yeah! It's good to be back! I'm hating on myself for not finishing this before, but I'm glad I'm writing it again! I hope you all enjoy this!**

**Oh, and please review!**


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